Sandown residents have expressed their upset at the current state of the town’s Los Altos park following a post on social media earlier this week.
Pollarding on a glut of Holm Oak Trees took place back in October, but a recent post on a popular Facebook page has drawn people’s attention to the ‘bare and naked’ landscape.
The works – previously reported on by Island Echo – were carried out by Isle of Wight tree care and woodland management experts, Greenscapes. The works were timed outside of the nesting and overwintering bird seasons.
At the time, Tony Gillingham, the Isle of Wight Council’s tree officer, said removing the poorer specimens of the non-native Holm Oak would ensure the retained trees have the light and space they need. He explained:
“Because of their tall slender nature, many of the park’s Holm Oaks suffer from structural defects that require regular arborist intervention.
“Trees that grow very close together in this way, without thinning or management, tend to develop poor structural form, becoming very slender and unbalanced, forming defects such as bark inclusions that are prone to failure.”
Whilst most people are upset about how the park now looks, some are more understanding of the reasons for the pollarding. It is understood that this specific species of tree respond well to such treatment.
Rubbish from when the pollarding took place has not been cleared and has instead been left at the park.
Los Altos Park was once part of the grounds of a grand estate, planted with trees of interest in an urban parkland style. Originally the Holm Oaks were maintained as neat Victorian hedges but over the years have grown into tall, thin structurally poor trees that cast excessive amounts of shade onto the park.
At the time of the works, it was said how opening up the park would not only make the woodland more welcoming, as well as making it more accessible to residents.
I feel sorry for the residents of Sandown, not only
is Sandown twinned with Beirut
They have to clean up their own beaches and pay
50p to use toilets.
IW Council should give the people of Sandown a
Council tax discount and Business a discount.
Couldn’t agree more. The Council is happy to take the Council Tax, but reluctant to do anything good with it and it certainly shows in poor old Sandown.