Tree stumps being left on North Tyneside streets too long, says Tory councillor

A tree stump on Oakland Road in Whitley Bay.
-Credit:ChronicleLive


Tree stumps are being left on North Tyneside streets for too long, says local Tory opposition leader.

At a meeting last night to discuss North Tyneside Council’s tree management policy, Conservative councillor Liam Bones raised his concerns that some tree stumps, scheduled for removal, are left for so long they need to be pruned.

Coun Bones said: “No other service area would be allowed to go do some work on the highway and leave a job half-done. In my ward for example, there are several streets where we’ve had trees taken out because of ash dieback which have then had not had the tree stumps removed six-months, a year, eighteen-months on. In some cases I’ve had to have the team back out to trim back the tree stump because by the time they come to remove it, it's basically growing into a new tree.”

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Kim Pye, head of environment and safer neighbourhoods at North Tyneside Council, stated the local authority had previously had to deal with many tree stumps as a result of trees damaged by storm Arwen, which battered the UK between November 26 and 27, 2021.

Ms Pye also explained that some stumps are left as habitats for wildlife but also informed councillors that the council had also had to contend with ash dieback - a fungus native to Asia but which can prove fatal to European ash species.

In cases where a stump has been identified for removal, Ms Pye said: “We do try and get them removed as quickly as possible.” The council officer also told councillors that tree work requires the expertise of qualified arborists.

The local authority came under fire last April after a Monkseaton man complained that 10 vehicles had been damaged after bumping into a stump on Oakland Road over the previous 18 months. The council stated at the time that the stump was listed for removal and its team would "complete the work as soon as possible".