The tree that fell in dramatic fashion in the middle of Swindon Town Centre had been reported to the council as being unsafe weeks beforehand.
A town centre trader said the council was aware of the tree in The Parade needing attention, but it was uprooted before the authority’s workers could get to it.
Shoppers and traders woke up on Monday to see a mature Catalpa Bignonioides in the Parade, which has been there for decades had become uprooted, tearing up the paving blocks and soil around it.
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Luckily the tree, originally a species native to the southern states of the US, but popular as an ornamental tree in the UK and other countries, fell in the early hours of the morning and nobody was in any danger.
But Vince Ayris, who runs a well-known cobblers and general repair shop in Havelock Street said it was fairly obvious that the tree was looking less than stable weeks before that.
My Ayris said: “I’m in the town centre every day and I’ve known that tree for more than 40 years.
I could see a few weeks ago that it had moved and was leaning more than it had been.
“I took some photographs and emailed them to the council to say it needed to be assessed for safety.”
Mr Ayris reckons the spell of very wet weather might have helped the tree, known colloquially as an Indian Bean tree, to its untimely end.
He said: “It has a big canopy and large leaves and the tree top would have got very heavy with the water it would have absorbed.”
Combined with some gusty wind and the soil surrounding it softened by plenty of rain, that may have made it easier for the tree to be uprooted.
Mr Ayris said: “It’s a real shame because it was there for years and it was a really beautiful tree.
“In Japan, they’d have supported it with a steel brace if it needed it.”
A Swindon Borough Council spokesperson said: “We were aware of the condition of the tree and were in the process of planning to bring it down safely.
“Unfortunately, before we could do so, the tree fell of its own accord.”
Workers for the council had the tree chopped up and removed from the pedestrianised street in the town centre within hours.
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