Wornington Green Estate Trees

Wornington Green Estate redevelopment

The Council granted planning permission for the redevelopment of the Wornington Green Estate. The redevelopment of the estate by Catalyst Housing Group has been ongoing for the past decade. 

In response to local residents’ concerns about tree removal and planting on the estate as part of the redevelopment, the Council asked Catalyst to provide responses to questions asked by residents which you can find in the frequently asked questions (FAQs) below.

About the project

Planning permission for the removal and planting of trees

86 mature trees on the estate were subject to a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) made in the mid-1990s. The TPO recognised the group value of the trees rather than any value in individual trees. 

In March 2006 an options appraisal by Kensington Housing Trust concluded that complete redevelopment of the Wornington Green Estate was the only realistic option to ensure delivery of improved housing.

In 2010 and 2014 planning permission was granted by the Council for redevelopment of the estate. Documents for these permissions can be viewed below.

Original permission ref. PP/09/02876

Amended permission ref. PP/13/04516

The Council’s decision to grant planning permission included consideration of the impact on trees and permission was given for the removal of a large number of trees, as well as new tree planting, on a phased basis to facilitate the development. TPOs are part of planning law. The Council’s decision to grant planning permission for this development which included removal of trees overrides any protection offered by the TPO against any tree works, including felling.

In 2012 Catalyst Housing Group commenced demolition of the Phase 1 area of the estate.  

Resident Petition

Planning permission exists for the removal of 42 trees in the Phase 2 area as part of the redevelopment.

Towards the end of 2020 the Council received a petition from residents of the Wornington Green Estate asking the Council to stop Catalyst felling 42 trees in Phase 2, planned to be felled by end of January 2021, and to consult more fully with residents and the local community over the regeneration designs. 

This led to this matter being discussed at the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) on 17 December 2020. You can view documents from the meeting online.

The OSC asked Catalyst to work with the Council to revisit their plans to fell 37 trees (reduced from 42 trees permitted for removal) within Phase 2, in favour of retaining more trees or further mitigating their loss.

Despite the planning permission that allows the redevelopment to proceed, and in response to the significant concerns raised by residents about tree removal, the Council asked Catalyst to revisit their plans to remove trees and to explore the retention of trees on the estate or further mitigate their loss. Such exploration has been lengthy and even included the relocation of some trees, though ultimately this was not possible to undertake. 

Phase 2 Tree Removal

In early March 2021, Catalyst removed 33 trees from the Phase 2 area, in line with the planning permission.

There are a further 7 trees in temporary Athlone Gardens which are scheduled for removal. 5 of these 7 trees (3 x cherry and 2 x silver birch) are located in a dog agility area and the other 2 trees (2 x cherry) are about 10m away from the dog agility area. The removal of the 7 trees would facilitate the construction of a new building and a road, that are also included within the planning permission.

Removal of the 7 trees in temporary Athlone Gardens has been paused whilst the area is still being used as a park. The term “temporary” is used because Athlone Gardens formerly occupied the area of the completed Phase 1 of the redevelopment, and the permanent new park will be delivered later in Catalyst’s programme of works. The permanent position of the new Athlone Gardens does not include the area of land where the 7 trees in temporary Athlone Gardens are planted.

In respect of the 7 trees in temporary Athlone Gardens, unfortunately, feasible alternatives have not been found, and reluctantly, the Council has concluded that options for saving them have been exhausted. For the Council to instruct Catalyst to cease works that they are carrying out in accordance with the planning permission would undermine the legitimacy of that permission.

In the Phase 2 area, 42 trees were permitted for removal. In response to the significant concerns raised by residents about tree removal and subsequent discussions with the Council, a total of 40 trees will be removed (33 trees have already been removed, with a further 7 trees scheduled for removal later this year). 

Phase 3

In acknowledgement of local concern about tree removal in Phase 2, and the Council’s clear request to address community concern about trees removal from the estate despite having permission for removal, Catalyst has been reviewing the proposals for Phase 3 to identify options for further tree retention through a revised design.

The Council has asked Catalyst to keep residents informed about their proposals for the remainder of the redevelopment. Catalyst can be contacted by:

Email: [email protected] Phone: 020 3900 3676

 

The Council remains committed to ensuring the retention of trees, where feasible, for the remainder of the redevelopment of the estate (Phase 3), and these conversations with Catalyst are ongoing.

 

Response from Catalyst

Catalyst provided an update on Phase 2 tree removal in:

22 January 2021 26 February 2021

 

In May 2021 Catalyst provided a further update about tree removal and planting

In March 2021 the Council asked Catalyst to provide responses to questions asked by residents about trees on the estate.

In May 2021 Catalyst responded to these questions (see FAQs below), though there are some maps, records and data they do not hold and would not usually hold as part of their development delivery programme that started over 10 years ago.

 

FAQs

Pre-development

How many trees existed on the estate prior to any re-development beginning on site?  As a site-wide total and breakdown per phase area (Phases 1, 2 and 3)

There were 191 trees of varying types, sizes, and quality on Wornington Green Estate prior to the start of the regeneration. According to the current project phasing, they were split as follows: 

Phase	Number of previously existing trees
1	79
2a	5
2b	59
3	48
Total	191

Removed trees

How many trees on the estate have been removed since works began on site (i.e. from Phase 1 to present)?

The table below provides the number of trees that were proposed for removal in the 2010 approval. This has been split according to the new phasing boundaries.

Phase	Trees Removed
1	65
2a	3*
2b	58
3	41
Total	167

*A section 73 application was granted in 2014 for 2 additional trees in Phase 2a to be removed in addition to those listed above, bringing the total to 169.

The table above is not reflective of the sequencing of all tree removal to date. For example in 2018, 17 trees were removed from the boundaries of Phases 2b and 3 to enable the road realignment to create Murchison Gardens.

The table above refers to only those trees that were planned to be removed due to the regeneration. Trees will also have been removed (and planted) over the years as part of the general estate management. This could be for reasons of health and safety, subsidence or health of the tree. Not all of the trees in the table above have been removed to date.

Provide an up to date plan which identifies the locations of all trees removed from the estate so far (i.e. from Phase 1 to present).

We do not have this information collated in a single plan of the entire scheme. This is because not all trees on the estate will have been removed as a result of the regeneration but, as mentioned above, also for reasons associated with ongoing estate management. 

Provide a schedule of the trees removed since works began on site (i.e. from Phase 1 to present), to include species, size and maturity.

The ‘Existing Tree Conditions & Tree Retention Strategy’ from 2010 provides the information we had at the time of planning approval relating to tree species, size and maturity. While this will give an indication of the type of trees that will have been removed as part of the regeneration works, it has not been updated over the years to account for changes in tree size and maturity, or the changes to numbers of trees that result from tree management on the estate over time.

Confirm the number of trees already removed and yet to be removed in Phase 2

In Phase 2b 8 trees are yet to be removed. These trees will be removed once part 2 of the Athlone Gardens park works have been completed.

Confirm the number of trees proposed to be removed in Phase 3.

In the original 2010 approval tree plan for Phase 3, 41 trees were identified for removal and 7 to be retained. We also planned to plant 19 new trees. 

In our updated plans for Phase 3, we plan to remove 33 trees and retain 11 trees. These numbers are based on an updated tree survey for Phase 3 that gives an accurate picture of what is there today. We will also plant 41 new trees (not including the 13 new trees that are within the boundary of Phase 3, but will be delivered as part of Phase 2b).

How does the timescale for tree removal in Phase 2 fit with the programme of redevelopment in this phase?

The recent removal of 43 trees on Phase 2b was planned to be completed prior to nesting season (end of 1st week in March 2021). While 35 of these trees have been removed, 8 are still in place in Athlone Gardens. We have decided to remove these once the site can be fully hoarded, in order to ensure the safety of the public. These trees will be removed once part 2 of the Athlone Gardens park works have been completed. Additional trees that are part of the Phase 2b boundary were removed in earlier regeneration works including the road realignment to create Murchison Gardens in 2018. 

We first informed the project’s Residents Steering Group about the tree removal in October 2020, before sending out a letter to all estate residents and neighbours living around the trees in November 2020. Now that the majority of the trees have been removed, we can move forward with the required demolition works, which are due to commence this summer.