Chainsaw massacre

More than a hundred oak trees gone in Saturday morning attack

It was early on Sunday morning that I saw the first photographs coming from the scene of destruction in an area of land next to Cator Park.

Dozens of trees felled in just a few hours on Saturday by a gang that can only be loosely described as workmen; these were no tree surgeons or pruning specialists. If they had safety equipment it couldn’t be seen; instead they were dressed more as though they were going for a morning kick-about. Walking around the site since, it now has an eerie quality; part impromptu graveyard, part crime scene.

Despite it being nesting season, and despite the whole area being subject to a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) that only came into force on Wednesday June 7 after local residents and dog walkers saw a few trees cut down a couple of weeks ago, the gang entered, locked the gates and reportedly left ‘bouncers’ there on guard to deter people from trying to intervene.

The trees were scythed down in a quite amateur fashion with chainsaws and hand saws, some trunks pulled to the ground after early cuts had been made. ‘These were not professionals’, one expert told me.

The first clue local residents had about what was happening came from the painful sound of chainsaws. The destruction is thought to have begun in the middle of the site, where nothing can be seen from the outside. Despite the ‘heavies’ at the gate, people still gained entrance, climbing over fences and confronting the wreckers.

Police were called and a hard copy of the TPO - a copy previously attached to the fence is understood to have been torn down earlier - was shown to those in charge. At this point about 40 trees had been cut down. After the police went, the destruction continued and by the time they visited for a second time and stopped the activity, at least 131 trees had been destroyed (the number started at 114, then reached 117 and, after a tree officer visited the new figure was established). A good bit of drone footage by CPRE London of the damage can be seen here.

At one point, a local resident blocked the only accessible road that leads to the space as the gang were trying to bring a vehicle in to help with the activity.

The Friends of Cator and Alexandra who look after the two parks in Penge and Beckenham, described the act as ‘a shocking day for our community and for biodiversity and climate change’. Representatives were there on Saturday morning marking each stump with blood red paint, as part of the miserable process of assessing the damage.

According to locals, the space has been used as a secure dog walking field for the past 20 years' and was a haven for wildlife. It was a biodiverse place - full of butterflies, birds, mammals and insects. Bats, a kingfisher, woodpeckers, tawny owls are all thought to have used the area which had more than 160, mostly oak trees. One local resident captured footage of a woodpecker seemingly trying to find its home. It also served as a spot of tranquilty during lockdown. But this one morning of damage will take years to recover.

According to the Land Registry, the land is owned by the Hopeson Group based in Singapore - bought for the bargain price of £10,000 on January 29, 2013 - but this is likely to be where its officially registered. Private Eye reported the same owners (though based in the British Virgin Islands) in their tax haven land ownership map of 2015. According to several witnesses, someone who claimed to be the landowner was on the site when the trees were chopped down.

And, yet, the land remains, according to Bromley Council, Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) - a designation only used in London, giving it the same level of protection as Green Belt and intended to be protected as an space of landscape, recreation, nature conservation or scientific interest.

Bromley Council is now assessing the damage and what action is taken remains to be seen. They are certainly taking it seriously. In a statement they said:

‘We are aware of this very sad incident, which can only be described as environmental destruction, where 131 protected trees have been destroyed.  This was a thriving young woodland that was valued by many locally and we are now investigating what has happened here.  This is a serious matter, with anyone who is found guilty of committing an offence which contravenes Section 210 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 being fined up to £20,000 at a Magistrates Court or an unlimited fine at Crown Court.  We are grateful to local residents who have already come forward to help with that investigation, which is at its early stages.’

The irony is, by taking this destructive action, the landowner - who presumably wants to develop it profitably - has made the chances of this occurring even more remote.

In the longer term, the future of the site now needs to be established and secured. Already groups like CPRE London are seeking to work with local campaigners to save the long term future of the site, hopefully protecting it for generations to come.

Note: The organisation Friends of Cator and Alexandra does excellent work preserving and improving these precious parks in Penge and Beckenham. It has planted new trees and hedgerows. Volunteers work to improve the spaces on a very regular basis and they hold frequent events. For more information their website can be found here