New Westminster’s tree-protection bylaw aims to grow the number of trees in the city, but Mother Nature is making it a bit of a challenge.
A large branch on a horse chestnut tree on the main path in Moody Park came crashing down on Sunday afternoon.
“It wasn’t something that was really obvious, but we think due to these storms we have had have caused the problem. With all the weight of all the new growth, it can’t hold that much pressure and they tear out,” said Claude LeDoux, the city’s manager of horticulture. “We are now having to take it all down.”
Staff cordoned off the area so staff could assess the tree and determine whether it could be saved.
“They said, ‘No, we can’t leave this,’” LeDoux said. “They started removing it right away. Once that tear-out happens, the tree is unstable at that point.”
LeDoux said the city has cleaned up the trees in Moody Park numerous times, but had no indication there was a problem. No one was injured when the tree fell.
That same afternoon, a tree at Reliance Court and Quayside Dive suffered a similar fate.
“Same thing,” LeDoux said. “I had just left Moody and was going back home while the staff were working on it and I got the call on that. I went back up, grabbed the arborist and went there and she removed it. The tree is still standing – that one branch was taken away, but we will end up having to take it down.”
Wind storms, heavy rains and other weather conditions in the past year may have contributed to conditions that have affected some trees, LeDoux said.
“I think we are being pushed by weather systems that some of the trees aren’t used to, some extreme weather conditions,” he said. “People should look at their trees, but they should always hire a professional to make sure the tree is inspected properly. Don’t take it upon yourself to do this work.”
In January 2016, the city adopted a tree-protection bylaw aimed at addressing the decline in the tree canopy in New Westminster. Part of the bylaw describes the situations that would allow trees to be cut down, including hazardous trees, trees whose roots are interfering or posing hazards to the operation of sewers, drains and other infrastructure, or are within the footprint of a proposed building or structure.
