A group of activists are taking turns parking under a 70-year-old tree so it doesn’t get removed by the council.
Those living on Senlac Road, in south London, have been fighting to save the tree after discovering in June 2021 Lewisham Council planned to cut it down.
A petition to save the tree has received more than 46,000 signatures after activists successfully blockaded it from tree surgeons earlier this month.
The council insists it must go because it has been implicated in subsidence of a nearby property.
Local Anna Moore, who has used her car in the blockade, said was not expecting the major response she received when she launched the petition to save the tree 18 months ago.
Respiratory doctor Anna, 39, said: ‘We heard that the tree was coming down in June last year and we’ve had intermittent meetings with the council from then on.
She added: ‘Lewisham Council has said it has considered root barriers but it’s too close to the property, but who decided that and where is the report?
‘There are ways of protecting the house at the same time as saving the tree.’
Anna said she is aware of the toll of climate change on our health and she is concerned for young people breathing in polluted air which the tree could combat.
The battle to save the tree has been ongoing for more than a decade – since it was first revealed to be causing subsidence to a neighbouring house in 2011.
Children joined the protest by writing messages and tying them to the trunk.
In a statement on their website, Lewisham Council pledged to plant 17 trees to replace the one mature tree on Senlac Road, in partnership with Street Trees for Living.
However, Zara said these trees wouldn’t be as effective, adding you should be planting 150 trees for one mature tree.
But a spokesperson to the council said they have no option but to remove the tree.
They said: ‘Unfortunately, we have been left with no option but to remove a tree on Senlac Road which has been implicated in subsidence of a nearby property.
‘Since a report of subsidence at the property in 2011, we have explored all possible options for retaining the tree in Senlac Road and implemented extensive mitigation measures, but sadly these have not been successful in preventing further subsidence.
‘As a local authority, we have a legal duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent damage occurring to a third party’s property.’
Lewisham Council insists it cannot share the documents in the public domain for legal reasons.
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