Council wins award for healthy trees scheme

a prestigious national award for the work it has done alongside the local community

Wandsworth was one of 14 local authorities and housing associations to be honoured at an awards ceremony organised by the Tree Council at the House of Commons last week.

The chairman of the council’s environment and leisure overview and scrutiny committee Cllr Paul Ellis was presented with the Tree Council’s award by Communities and Local Government minister Baroness Andrews.

The award was received for the work that the town hall has done in setting up and then supporting local tree wardens in the borough over the past decade.

Cllr Ellis with the council's award alongside Tree Council chairman Sue Roe and Isobel Hoseasons from National Grid.

Wandsworth was one of the first urban councils in the country to establish a network of tree wardens – ordinary members of the public who act as the eyes and ears of the town hall by keeping a close watch on the health and well-being of trees in their neighbourhood. The borough was one of only two authorities in London to win a Tree Council award. Cllr Ellis said: “This award is well-earned recognition of the hard work and dedication of our network of volunteers who do so much good work in ensuring that the borough’s trees stay fit and healthy.

“We are fortunate in Wandsworth to have so many trees lining our streets and residential roads. There are more than 14,000 street trees in the borough and these are the ones that the wardens keep a close eye on. These are in addition to the roughly 60,000 trees that thrive in our parks and open spaces.

“This huge number of trees means that Wandsworth isn’t just the Brighter Borough – it’s also the Greener Borough too.”

Baroness Andrews said: “I would like to offer my congratulations to all of the tree warden networks which have worked so hard to protect trees and their communities over the last ten years.

“The tree warden scheme is all about people coming together to make a difference to their neighbourhood.”

Tree Council chairman Sue Roe said: “This success is very much down to partnerships — local and national - and to some fantastic organisations and individuals whose help, support and enthusiasm have made our tree warden scheme what it is today. These Tree Council awards are our way of recognising all this hard work and saying thank you to those who have run local networks with such commitment over the past ten years.”

National Grid, a long-standing supporter of the Tree Council, has sponsored the tree warden scheme since 1997.

December 6, 2006