The sudden felling of one of the oldest and largest oak trees in London has been reported to police, as campaigners renewed calls for better protection for such nationally significant trees.
The oak in Whitewebbs park in Enfield was up to 500 years old, with a trunk that was more than six metres in circumference. It was listed on the Woodland Trust inventory of ancient trees, but was not the subject of a tree preservation order.
The tree was felled earlier this month by contractors working for Mitchell and Butlers Retail (M&BR) who run a nearby Toby Carvery and lease the land where the tree stood from Enfield council.
The council said it had not been informed of the decision to cut down the tree and urged the Metropolitan police to investigate.
The council leader, Ergin Erbil, said: “We are treating the matter as criminal damage and have reported it to the police.”
The council has now placed a tree preservation order on the remaining trunk in the hope that it may grow back.
A spokesperson for M&BR said its contractors had warned that the tree was diseased. They said: “The tree was cut back after we were advised by our specialist arboriculture contractors that it caused a potential health and safety risk.
“This was an important action to protect our employees and guests as well as the wider general public, to whom we have a duty of care.
“We took necessary measures to ensure any legal requirements were met. We are grateful to our specialist arboriculture contractors for warning us of this potential health and safety risk, allowing us to act swiftly to address it.”
Campaigners have express dismay at the incident. Writing on X, Paul Powlesand, co-founder of the Lawyers for Nature, said: “This shows the desperate need for better protections for our veteran and ancient trees. A building the same age as this tree would almost certainly be listed (council owned or not), and we should have an equivalent system for trees, with equivalent enforcement and punishment.”
Adam Cormack, head of campaigning at the Woodland Trust said: “This depressing crime is a reminder to all of us that not every ancient tree is in a safe place.
“It is very unusual to see the felling of an oak tree of this size and age. Legally protected status for trees like the Whitewebbs Oak is long overdue.
“This issue has widespread public support and is an open goal for the government to act upon.”
The trust is campaigning for legislation that would make a list of nationally important heritage trees the subject of preservation orders.
Later this month the trial two men accused of felling the sycamore gap tree is due to take place at Newcastle crown court.
Experts say ancient oaks have more ecological value that sycamores because they support hundreds more species.
A blogpost by the tree company Thores Trees said: “Ancient trees like this one are living ecosystems in themselves. This oak was a lapsed pollard, a sign of historical land management, left to mature over centuries into a vast and unique habitat. Its sheer size and age meant it was home to hundreds of species, many of which rely solely on old trees like this to survive.”
