Our environment correspondent PAUL LUSHION reports on the latest piece of sheer stupidity from Jason Perry’s council, carried out in the middle of a drought during the climate crisis, and while damaging a cherished conservation area
Work in progress: Croydon Council’s contractors returned to the Crystal Palace Triangle this morning to release the trees from their tarmac yokes
As the latest example of fuckwittery at Jason Perry’s Croydon Council, contractors were this morning removing the suffocating asphalt that had been laid just days ago around the bases of cherry trees in the Crystal Palace Triangle.
The dysfunctional council’s U-turn followed a massive public outcry at the sheer stupidity of the actions, which likely consigned the trees to long, lingering deaths.
“The trees are the only bit of greenery on the streetscape of the Triangle,” one local wrote after seeing the tarmac yokes being poured into the tree pits.
“They are glorious when in bloom. They are now being killed by our council. Croydon’s reverse Midas touch – where everything they touch turns to shit – strikes again.”
Ward councillors Mark Adderley and Nat Vesty fired off urgent complaints to the council in a bid to try to save the Triangle trees, with a rare example of cross-party action, as Labour’s shadow cabinet member for streets and environment, Tom Bowell, joining the objections.
Council work: the trees on Friday, under a suffocating blanket of asphalt
This morning, contractors had returned to the Triangle, barriers placed around the trees, and started work to remove the recently applied tarmac.
“Good news and an important win,” said another resident. “But no explanation of who decided this was a good idea in the first place.
“Croydon Council is wasting money yet again on hokey-cokey infrastructure. If only they had a coherent plan, strategy, or even just knew what they were doing!”
Councillor Adderley posted on Instagram: “I’m delighted to say that action has now been taken to remove the tarmac from around the tree bases. It’s a great example of what can happen when local people speak up together.
“A special thank you to Cllr Tom Bowell, who acted quickly and escalated the issue to the highest level to ensure it was dealt with promptly. Credit where it’s due.
“Hopefully the trees can now continue to thrive for many years to come.
“Thousands of people engaged with the issue. The response from the community was incredible. This has been a brilliant example of the community working together to protect something valuable.”
And Adderley added: “What a relief!”
It was on Friday that Crystal Palace locals noticed the potentially disastrous bit of “improvements” to the pavements around the Triangle, the characterful piece of high street that is so valued by the community. And a conservation area, where rmoving iron railings and tarmac-ing trees is supposed to be verboten.
The works were being undertaken by Croydon’s highways contractors, Conway.
“Their first act was to remove some attractive grating around the three mature cherry trees on Westow Street and seal them in hot tarmac.
“There was no thought given to the damage this would cause the trees. No thought about how water would get to the roots, and (obviously) no thought about how this looks in a conservation area.”
What the experts say: no sign on the LTOA website of any asphalt around the tree trunk
First responses from the various council departments had the council’s tree and woodlands team saying “Nuffink to do with us, Guv”. The finger was pointing at highways.
Local environmentalist Peter Underwood explains what an imbecillic thing to do tarmac-ing trees is: “Street trees are living in an unnatural environment.
“They are really beneficial for people in removing pollutants and reducing the heat island effect of built-up areas, but those factors put a strain on the trees themselves.
“Tree root systems need access to nutrients, water and air for a healthy tree and street trees struggle with heavily compacted soil and non-permeable surfaces like tarmac.
“This is why street trees are usually planted in tree pits that allow an area of soil around the base of the tree to give the roots at least a little breathing space. The Royal Horticultural Society advises not to pave or tarmac within a one-metre radius of a tree’s trunk and the London Tree Officers Association recommends that, ‘Asphalt should not be laid immediately up to the stem of a tree.
The LTOA guidance says ‘the more air and water which can pass through the surface material to the roots, the better’.”
The LTOA also states: “Decisions pertaining to the health and wellbeing of trees should be made by the relevant tree specialist, who must be involved and consulted throughout the design process. The final decision as to which material is most appropriate for a given scenario must rest with them, following input from other professionals such as highway engineers, designers or project managers.”
Vesty, the area’s recently elected Green councillor, emailed the council requesting urgent removal of the tarmac and asking for an arboricultural inspection.
Prompt action: Cllr Natalie Vesty
“I have also asked about the whereabouts of the original grilles that were removed during this work, and for the council to reinstall them,” Councillor Vestey told Inside Croydon.
The councillor confirmed that council’s trees and woodland officer was not aware of the tarmac filling of the tree pits.
“The council owes residents a clear explanation for these works and reassurance that the long-term health of these valued trees has been properly considered.
“The reaction from residents shows just how much these cherry trees mean to the Crystal Palace community. The fact that this work was carried out in a Conservation Area is particularly worrying.”
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If the Council/Conway have some spare tarmac – could they please use it to fill some potholes?
That makes great sense …… but thats not what this Council is about!
The trees between the tram tracks and road on George Street, between Dingwall Road and Wellesley Road, face a similar threat. The greenery surrounding them was ripped out in the last 12 months, with tarmac replacing it.
This is despite the council’s 2025 Infrastructure Delivery Plan boasting that we would see “Urban Greening” there: “This will encompass a range of projects including biodiversity improvements, nature-based SuDS, air quality improvements and health & wellbeing enhancements, tree planting and planting-based wind mitigation.”
SuDS are Sustainable Drainage Systems, eco-friendly approaches to manage surface water runoff, slow down rainwater, and reduce urban flooding. Key features include permeable surfaces and planting.
Can Councillors Adderley and Bowell achieve a second victory for common sense?
Hi Austen. Good point. I will raise and look into this.
Thanks Tom, and thanks also to Councillor Vesty.
The Council spends money putting tarmac round trees while closing libraries and cutting other vital services. The Government oversees the prosecution of people for peacefully holding up cardboard signs while releasing prisoners because the jails are overcrowded.
What an Alice in Wonderland world we live in.
There is a process to get rid of MPs, which is by starting a recall petition. While there are good reasons for wanting to try this with our North and South MPs, who are the worst examples of their large parties’ mass of MPs. is there any such mechanism to get rid of failed mayors (or was it not built in to the rules when some idiot decided that they were a good idea ? Surely there mnust be some way to get rid of Piss-Poor Perry, to stop him from finishing his project to run Croydon completely into the ground ?!
As they say about highways contracts, “there is the right way to do them and the Conway” ! Seriously though, Conway are NOT the worst – Riney who did the “improvements” to the shops area in Lower Addiscombe Road years ago were much worse.
Streetview shots show the metal grills surrounding the trees were beginning to constrict growth, more than any tarmac, which is much more flexible, would. There are hundreds of thousands if not millions of established trees passed by everyday without a glance surrounded by paving, concrete of tarmac. How is it supposed that they survive in such conditions, which they blindingly obviously do? The gas and water permeability and porosity of the surrounding surfacing is far from completely sealed. Does anyone really suppose that a square metre of open ground around forest size trees on roadsides and shopping precincts is remotely sufficient for their need for gaseous exchange, water and nutrients? Established trees have already sought and found access to those necessities well beyond the bounds normally imagined. And there are varieties of tarmac, or other materials such a resin bonded gravels or bitumenised rubber crumb in commonplace use that are permeable and porous, if the fines and small particles are left out of the mix and it is not compacted. It was assumed [and not confirmed] to be hot-laid, but similarly there are cold-laid tarmacs that would not damage the stem tissues. And even standard asphalt or tarmac is a lot more flexible and permissible of growth than paving, concrete or a grill. I’m afraid the level of self-righteous indignant ignorance sometimes displayed is … distressing…
Yeah. Like the ignorance in display in this comment, with its various assumptions.
Since you believe me to be arboriculturally ignorant, I’m sure you’d be happy to receive the digital archive amounting to over 12Gb of arb documents I hand out to anyone interested at every opportunity, accumulated over the past 25 years. Please just provide a postal address.
Why would we want so much spam?
“I’m afraid the level of self-righteous indignant ignorance sometimes displayed is … distressing”.
Better to post nothing and be thought a fool than to post something and leave no room for doubt
The London Tree Officers Association guide to “Surface Materials Around Trees” downloadable from https://www.ltoa.org.uk/surface-materials-around-trees-document/file does not mention tarmac, and warns against the careless use of asphalt. Better alternatives are available.