Winyates roadside next in regenerative tree felling programme

There’ll be some temporary traffic lights on Battens Drive over the next two weeks, as the latest in a series of projects to regenerate new town era woodlands in Redditch gets under way.

Arboricultural experts from Redditch Borough Council are set to fell two strips of densely-packed, dying poplar trees along sections of Battens Drive in Winyates, so that younger trees there will be able to grow and establish a more sustainable and natural woodland.

The trees are close to the road by the Colts Lane and Hopyard Lane junctions, and so for everyone’s safety temporary traffic lights will be in place for the duration of the works, which will be between 3rd-7th October and 10th-13th October.

All the wood from the trees will be processed into chippings onsite and then be left to decompose naturally around the sites’ boundaries with Arrow Valley Country Park.

Redditch Borough Council’s Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services, Cllr Peter Fleming, said: “It’s always a shame to have to fell trees like this, but we know that it’s for the best in the long run. That can already be seen in the various places we’ve had to take this same approach across the town, where felled areas are recovering nicely into regenerated woodland. It’s about much more than just safety on our roads, it’s about keeping Redditch green. I’d like to thank residents for bearing with us during the works.”

Having all the trees in one place all start to die at the same time is a familiar problem for people in Redditch, where during the new town expansion of the 60s and 70s swathes of quick-growing new trees were planted en masse to create one of the greenest towns in England.

Decades later a part of the legacy of that mass planting is that in some local woodlands, particularly near to Redditch’s well-planned transport networks, the trees that were planted and came to maturity together also die off together, meaning the woodland quickly deteriorates. On top of that, as those same areas tend to be densely and uniformly planted, young trees struggle to grow and naturally regenerate the woodland.

It’s a long-term problem that prompted the borough council to begin a 30-site woodland management programme in 1995. Under that plan, the council has been moving round the borough felling certain areas of woodland and replacing them where required with more naturally-regenerating woodland, planting a range of tree species and using improved modern sustainability techniques, encouraging wildlife, and varying tree ages to ensure that future generations of residents will not face the same problems.

Leader of the Council, Cllr Matt Dormer, said: “It’s many years now since the council grasped this nettle and put in place a plan to ensure that our woodlands are well-managed and sustainable, both now and for future residents.“

For more information about woodland management in Redditch, see here