Historic 150-year-old tree at The Plain in Oxford axed

A lime tree at the Plain roundabout which is believed to date back to the Victorian-era was cut down by Oxfordshire County Council on Sunday (December 3).

The authority, which claims that tackling climate change is its priority, has been accused of a “crazy decision” which goes against its environmental stance.

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But a council spokesman claimed the tree showed signs of dieback and caused a safety issue because of its proximity to the busy road.

The tree is set to be replaced during the next planting season before April 2024.

Before the tree was felled, Cowley Road restaurateur Clinton Pugh attached a large sign to its trunk which read: “Save me from Oxford council cutting me down.”

A sign was attached to the tree by Clinton Pugh before it was felled (Image: Clinton Pugh)

He said he could not believe the council had since axed the tree, which stood just a few hundred yards from his restaurants Cafe Coco and Kazbar.

“The council only seems to care about the environment when it makes them look good,” said the father of actress Florence Pugh.

“I thought we wanted Oxford to become a cleaner and greener city rather than chopping down amazing trees.

"They are hypocrites."

Mr Pugh said his wife Deborah had found a photo of the tree from the mid-1800s.

“They say they’re going to replace it with a new tree but it won’t have the same effect as a 150-year-old tree,” he said.

“If that was in someone’s garden, they would slap a preservation order on it. They’re very good at implementing things to other people.”

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Councillor Eddie Reeves, the council’s Tory group leader, said the authority’s focus on planting trees had distracted it from maintaining them.

He said: “The council has set about tree planting at a cost of millions of pounds to council taxpayers.

“In doing so they have made no financial provision for how such trees should be maintained, which will invariably mean cuts to roads, social services and or the trees themselves in future.

“We should be preserving the trees we have, not lopping and replanting them without a clear strategic aim in mind.

The lime tree before it was felled (Image: Google Maps)“Unless the tree is dead or dangerous, removing one from such an iconic city spot will seem to most to be another crazy decision by an out-of-touch council."

The council spokesman insisted that safety was the authority’s priority.

His comments come after 19-year-old Alexander Kippax was struck and killed by a falling tree in King George Playing Fields off Botley Road in August.

He said: “Our tree service has inspected this lime tree at The Plain at least three times since January 2023.

“The initial inspection resulted in pollarding being prescribed.

“However, in August 2023, the tree was showing areas of dieback and retrenchment, particularly on the branch over the carriageway.

“Unfortunately, in October 2023 it was decided that the appropriate option was removal, especially due to its close proximity to the busy road.”

The incident is not the first time the council has sparked fury this year for deciding to fell mature trees.

In October, it ignored the pleas of residents and councillors and decided to dig up willow trees in Donnington recreation ground to make way for a cycle path.