This morning a meeting was held with folks from the Islington Tree Service (Jake Tibetts, James Gilchrist), and our Councillor Paul Convery to discuss what can be done to try to reduce the amount of vandalism that has resulted in as many of ten of our newly planted trees being destroyed in the last few months.
It was agreed that all the destroyed trees will be replaced during the next planting season which begins in November. In addition, Councillor Convery will be seeking funds to have protective tree guards installed on those new trees that did not have them before (these guards cost as much as the trees themselves).
Also stressed to Councillor Convery was the importance of being able to gain access to the local CCTV network to try to determine the source of this vandalism. Of course, this would also require the help of local residents to report any damage to the Tree Service folks as quickly as possible (treeservice@islington.gov.uk) to establish dates and times to investigate. The Tree Service has been successful in tracking down several of the culprits and in a number of past incidents actually making them pay to repair the damage.
We accept that there seems to be little that we can do beyond the above measures, but if anyone has other ideas, please comment on this posting to let us know.
This is a very frustrating situation as we know that several folks in the community have spent a lot of time in getting these trees planted in the first place, and have maintained a watchful eye over them. The least the rest of us can do is to be vigilant and report any incidents as quickly as possible to the Tree Service folks.
Kings Cross Environment 
On the subject of vandalised trees it seems to me that whilst the tree guards may reduce the problem, they don’t appear to dissuade the determined or more than likely drunk individual. At least three trees on York Way have been snapped even though they were protected by a tree guard. However, the more mature trees that are resistant to vandalism seem to survive without guards. Would it be possible to buy more mature trees and dispense with the guards, assuming the cost of the more mature trees would be equivalent to the younger ones plus guards?
Peter,
Thanks for your comment. I agree with your assumption and we have continually tried to press for the most mature trees that we could get. Unfortunately we have been limited by the size of the “tree pits” that can be dug and their size has been limited due to the extent of underground services that have been encountered.
For example, the Tree Service folks had agreed to plant trees on the West side of York Way until they dug exploratory holes – only to find that they couldn’t plant anything due to the extent of the underground services present.
We will continue to press for larger (more mature) trees whenever possible and I hope that the Tree Service folks are monitoring this to see your comments as they will reinforce our ongoing requests.