User:JamJamSvn/sandbox5
an important action to protect our employees and guests as well as the wider general public.
On 3 April 2025, a contractor working for Mitchells & Butlers, owners of a nearby Toby Carvery restaurant, cut down a 500-year-old ancient pendunculate oak tree in Whitewebbs Park in Enfield, London, in the United Kingdom, on land the company had leased.[1] The felling led to a backlash from environmental campaign groups and international press coverage.
Background
[edit]The Woodland Trust has called it "one of London’s largest and most significant ancient trees"; it had a girth of 6.1 metres (20 ft), and ranked in the top 100 of London's 600,000 oak trees in terms of size.[2] It was listed on the Woodland Trust inventory of ancient trees, but it was not subject to a tree preservation order.[1]
The tree, being around 500 years old, was a lapsed pollard, indicating historical land management. Over centuries it matured into its own habitat, home to hundreds of species.[1]
In 2024, the tree was assessed by tree experts working for Tottenham Hotspur, which was planning to redevelop parkland next to the site; they called it a "fine specimen" with an expected life of at least 50 more years.[3] An inspection in December that year by Enfield Council deemed that the tree was "healthy" and "posed no risk" to the neighbouring car park.[2]
The company Toby Carvery is owned by Mitchells & Butlers.[2]
Felling
[edit]The council was not informed of the decision to cut down the tree.[1]
Responses
[edit]On 15 April, the Metropolitan Police closed its investigation, treating the felling as a civil matter.[1] Leader of Enfield Council, Ergin Erbil, said in a statement on 16 April that the council was considering legal action and had "evidence that this tree was alive and starting to grow new spring leaves when this action was taken." He further stated that the felling had "broken the terms of the lease which requires Toby Carvery to maintain and protect the existing landscape. The tree was the oldest one on site and cutting it down seems to be a clear breach of this condition. This tree would have been home to countless wildlife, fungi, and pollinators. This tree is a part of our ecological and cultural heritage". An emergency tree preservation order was imposed on the remaining stump. A Mitchells & Butlers spokesman said that the felling was "an important action to protect our employees and guests as well as the wider general public."[4]
The felling has led campaigners to push for greater protections for trees; Paul Powlesland of Lawyers for Nature wrote that "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."[1]
- ^ a b c d e f Weaver, Matthew (15 April 2025). "Felling of ancient London oak tree by Toby Carvery owner reported to police". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- ^ a b c Kemp, Olivia (17 April 2025). "Restaurant chain faces outrage after carving up 500-year-old oak tree". CNN. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- ^ Weaver, Matthew (17 April 2025). "Spurs contractors judged felled Enfield oak to be 'fine specimen'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- ^ Weaver, Matthew (15 April 2025). "Felling of ancient London oak tree by Toby Carvery owner reported to police". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 April 2025.