Tree by pond chopped to stump in town centre pruning
The town centre will look a little different after trees have been chopped or cut back amid a spree of work.
On Sunday (April 21), Watford Borough Council officers were spotted working on some of the larger trees in The Parade.
An 80-year-old one that apparently needed to be removed due to disease, directly outside Café De Lisboa, was reduced to a stump. It is set to be replaced.
Others were only cut back.
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Ahead of the work, Watford Borough Council had warned shoppers that it would be cutting back two trees that required “significant work” north of the Exchange Road flyover and opposite the restaurant Il Pellegrino and the British Heart Foundation Home Store.
The council said that, because of the size and height of the trees, “the way branches may fall cannot be predicted”.
This was why work was carried out on a Sunday, because there would be fewer shoppers out in The Parade.
According to the local authority's website, it carries out works to trees for three reasons: public safety and to prevent damage to vehicles, property or people; if a tree blocks street lights; and where pruning will benefit the tree or surrounding environment.