The last tree on Victoria Circus Roundabout has now gone - Healthy Life Essex

What a tragedy – the last tree on Victoria Circus Roundabout, a ‘London Plane’ has now been removed.

In a statement  today Councillor Nigel Holdcroft, Leader of Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, spoke of his “great regret” that the Council had been forced to remove a London Plane tree from Victoria Circus.

Cllr Holdcroft said: “In March 2009, prior to the commencement of the Victoria Gateway scheme, the Council spoke to all the affected utility companies to establish the extent of their cabling networks in the area. On the basis of the information we received at that time it appeared possible to retain this tree. However it was only recently – many months later – that British Telecom provided us with full details of its fibre-optic cabling network and this revealed a very different situation”.

He went on to mention how BT’s telecommunications network in the town would have been disrupted if they had continued with the original plan, and the cost and time limit implications, with serious financial ramifications for the Council and Council Tax payers in the Borough.

Cllr Holdcroft said that the council had looked at every possible way of avoiding the need to remove the London Plane tree but in the end it simply wasn’t possible without huge cost implications.

“The Council’s contractors were tasked to remove the tree without chopping it into sections. It is hoped the trunk can be used as the foundation for a work of public art.

“He said that the Council were “committed to increasing the numbers of healthy trees across the Town and the Victoria Gateway scheme including extensive replanting and landscaping.”