A Bracknell resident has made a desperate plea to remove a ‘dangerous’ tree that smashed through three houses. 

Debbie Smith described how a branch from an oak tree located at the bottom of her garden failed, causing significant damage to her own property, two neighbouring houses and two cars. 

It has meant all three occupants have been forced to temporarily move out of their Sandhurst homes. Mrs Smith is currently staying with her in-laws. 

“Luckily, we were not at home at the time, but the neighbours were in their living room and were not hurt just very shaken. If anyone had been in our spare bedroom or both gardens [they] would have been hurt or killed,” Mrs Smith said. 

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The incident happened at the beginning of September, just three weeks after Mrs Smith and her husband Jason moved into the property on Hungerford Close. She claims there had been “serious issues” with the tree for many years that “weren’t declared” at the time of purchase. 

Due to the tree being the subject of a tree protection order (TPO) – an order made by a local planning authority to protect specific trees, groups of trees or woodlands – Mrs Smith applied to Bracknell Forest Council for permission to have it cut down. 

She claims that the process has been “nothing but hassle” and feel they are “not being listened to” by the council’s tree officer. 

A tree report was conducted ten years ago following a similar incident, which Mrs Smith says showed the tree was decaying. 

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After the latest incident, Ms Smith paid for a further report to be carried out by Webb & Cook Arboricultural Specialists Ltd. It concluded that the oak had Armillaria Mellea – a wood decay fungi – and recommended it was felled “to ground level” within three months. 

However, in an email seen by The News, the council’s tree officer states they “obtained the opinion of an expert” who concluded that the fungi are Laetiporous sulphureus – a common species found on oak tree trunks – and are “confident in the independent opinion provided”. 

“Evidence to fell the tree entirely would need to demonstrate that a safe and sustainable position for the tree could not reasonably be achieved by lesser works,” they added. 

Mrs Smith feels the officer is ignoring two reports stating the tree is dangerous.  

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“Now we feel bullied into either withdrawing the application or finding £400 to have another arboriculture report [done] when the first two are not good enough for him. 

“We are not doing this because we don’t like the tree […] it is dangerous to leave up and could eventually kill someone,” she added. 

Head of Natural Estates at the council, Stephen Chown, said they were “unable to comment” on a live TPO application outside the formal process but stated that all applications “must demonstrate the justification for the work”. 

“The role of the tree officer is to independently verify the accuracy of the information presented, and where needed, to challenge this, to ensure the proposed work follows best practice for tree management,” he added.