People power saves oak tree
July 2009
The venerable old Lucombe oak (Quercus x hispanica, a cross between the Cork Oak, Quercus suber, and the Turkey Oak, Quercus cerris; cultivated in 1762 by William Lucombe) in Henhayes Crewkerne, Somerset, was found to have a fungus infection (or perhaps just be in the way of a new sports center development?), deemed a hazard and due to be felled by the local council. The council’s insurers appeared to be bullying the councilors into taking drastic action and threatening to sue any individual who stood in the way.
But the citizens of Crewkerne did not obey and began the Save the Oak! Save Henhayes! campaign and flew in arboreal experts from Germany with more precise scientific equipment – which proved that the tree had a future! The campaigners collected over 2,000 names supporting a petition and the council agreed to preservation rather than destruction, at least for the following three years.
The campaign showed, so their spokesman, Green politician B. Hartshorn, said, that ‘we need to value and protect our green spaces and the species that inhabit them. … We have a magnificent oak tree to enjoy.’
Update July 2015: The tree still stands.
sources: BBC News
