A towering conifer brought down in strong winds crashed on to a church roof, prompting emergency works and a formal notice from council tree officers.
East Devon District Council has confirmed that a windblown Lawson Cypress at the Church of the Holy Family, Roman Catholic Church, Ottery Moor Lane, Honiton, was removed after it fell on to the building during a recent storm.
In an email dated Monday, February 16, Carl Harrison, tree technician at East Devon District Council, asked colleagues to issue a five-day notice for the “removal of windblow conifer” under an exception to Tree Preservation Order 64/0010/TPO .
The request followed emergency work carried out by Sean Kelly, senior partner at Tip Top Trees.
In a message sent on Tuesday, January 27, Mr Kelly said he had “undertook some emergency works at the Catholic Church.”
He said: “I removed one windblown multi-stemmed Lawson Cypress Conifer tree which had blown over and was resting on the Catholic Church roof and one dead Conifer found growing adjacent to the multi-stemmed Conifer tree as you can see from the photo attached.”
Mr Kelly added: “This tree was blown down in the recent storm on Saturday, please could you issue an exemption notice for works within a Conservation Area.”
The council email confirms that no replacement planting is required as part of the five-day notice process .
