Kentish Chainsaw Massacre

Courier Countryside Column for June 7^th.

Under title:  Chainsaw Whine was least of my worries

It was the chainsaws shattering the Sunday morning peace that alerted us.

We were holding our annual tennis tournament and around 30 people were sitting in the sun awaiting their turn on court. And the infuriating whine just went on and on…

Eventually I rose to remonstrate.  And got a terrible shock. I’d known an ancient apple orchard was hidden behind a high hedge opposite.  I’d even thought how sad to leave these superb trees unpruned, but was consoled by the wonderful wildlife habitat they provided.

Now they were not just pruning, or even pollarding. It looked like they were massacring the entire orchard. Two teams with chainsaws and tractors were systematically felling tree after tree.

The contractors turned out to be perfectly reasonable about the noise and agreed to postpone work until a weekday. So peace was restored and tennis resumed. But surely, I thought, you can’t just destroy a whole orchard of 40 or 50 year-old full standard apple trees?  You’d need a licence wouldn’t you?  I mean I grow a few willows commercially - Salix Alba Caeruleas.  And even though they are planted specifically to make cricket bats you still have to have a license to fell them.

The Forestry Commission’s website is clear: “You normally need permission from us to fell growing trees.” But a little later: “felling carried out without a licence is an offence unless covered by an exemption.” And of course you’ve guessed it - fruit trees in garden or orchard are exempt.

But why?  It’s crazy. All conservation and wildlife organisations agree that traditional orchards are vital havens of biodiversity, yet we’ve lost more than 60% of them in the past five decades. Community orchards like the one I’m involved with are desperately trying to stem the tide. But elsewhere we fail utterly to protect what we have left.

Perhaps, I thought, the council’s Tree Officer would be able to slap a Preservation Order on them?  It’s not that straightforward with commercial orchards, he told me. Fruit trees are exempt from TPOs.  A farmer has to be allowed to profit from his land. He’d look into it but was doubtful.

So by the time you read this another important part of our rural heritage will likely be gone. To add insult to injury, as they were exterminated, the trees were resplendent in full spring blossom.