Pruning work marked as complete when it hadn't been done
Cllr Gary Malcolm next to a tree which has not been worked on
An Ealing Council officer has admitted to a local councillor that work on trees is being regularly indicated as complete by its contractor when it hasn't been done leading to a severe backlog in tree pruning.
In an email to Southfield ward councillor, Andrew Steed, the borough tree officer said, "I have many examples where the contractors have marked the work as ‘complete’ and it clearly is not."
Instances referred to include trees on Woodstock Road, St Albans Avenue, Agnes Road, Beaumont Road and Fielding Road. Trees which have had works orders on them since March 2020 have not been worked on.
Residents have been complaining about the lack of pruning of trees which is supposed to be done on a three year cycle. The local Liberal Democrat councillors say this is an issue that regularly comes up on the doorstep.
Southfield Councillor Gary Malcolm said, “After a Liberal Democrat campaign one contractor was sacked but those who have lied do not deserve to receive their payments. In reality this is just basic incompetence of governance. Ealing Labour needs to take responsibility for their contractors' inaction or lies. There are many trees that have now had a works orders on them for over a year which is shambolic.
"Other management failings by Ealing Council include dirty streets, missed collections of recycling and household waste, missing graffiti targets, closing recycling centres, and the recycling rates are falling and not increasing."
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5 April 2021
