Following a number of concerns being lodged with the Clerk from residents, Cllr Ian Shenton, was asked by the JPC  to enquire as to the rationale for pollarding at this time of the year. Here is the formal response from WCC Forestry:

These trees are pollarded on a cyclical basis, issues presented from the growth of these trees have been brought to our attention with contact from residents and businesses directly, and from residents via the Parish, in relation to the growth of these trees coming into contact with buildings and hanging low over the footpath.

Whilst it was considered that remedial pruning works could mitigate the issues in the short term, it did not make for an efficient use of resources to carry out these remedial works, only to then carry out cyclical pollarding towards the latter end of the year. We have a very limited budget in relation to the scope of tree work required across the entire county, therefore this method was deemed a poor use of resources.

Due to the seemingly increasing pressure being received, the decision was made to expedite the works to help mitigate the concerns being raised by residents and the Parish.

We hope this sheds some light on the matter from our perspective as tree managers, we are happy to have further discussions about this or any future pollarding work/management of the trees on Henley High Street moving forward.

Kind regards,

Arboricultural Area Manager

Arboriculture, Forestry Communities Directorate Warwickshire County Council