A driver whose car was hit by a falling tree has accused a housing association of not acting on concerns she began raising a year ago over maintenance of the area’s greenery.
Sharon Petersen, 64, said her husband discovered her Vauxhall Zafira scratched and covered in branches in the car park outside their home on Plantation Close in Castlefields, Runcorn on April 23.
Although her husband Terry’s car was hit too it was unscathed.
READ MORE: Local elections 2022: Tell us what you'll be voting on this year
No-one was injured but Sharon said the incident could have ended in tragedy if the tree hit a bungalow or a pedestrian.
She told the ECHO she has been calling on Onward housing association, formerly Liverpool Housing Trust, to carry out maintenance work on foliage in the area for a year to no avail, adding she thinks another neighbour had raised the issue two years ago.
Sharon said it was “like we’ve been completely forgotten” in Plantation Close despite tenants paying a service charge.
Onward has responded, saying all trees are checked on a one or three-year cycle and an investigation found protocols had been followed in Plantation Close.
Sharon, however, said the problem was the lack of well-anchored roots, with just one firmly embedded to fasten it in the ground, adding that as a “tree hugger” she didn’t want it to be chopped down, but the area’s vegetation had all needed trimming back, soil erosion had not been dealt with and for Onward could have acted to “fortify” the trees.
She said: “I do think it should have been assessed before that.
“All the trees need assessing because of the soil erosion round here, the general state of the car park and the bottom of Plantation Close, the general state of the vegetation, and because vegetation has been cut down there’s a lot of soil erosion.
“When it rains, soil ends up on the path.”
She added: “I think the roots are moving about, there’s nothing to keep them there, there’s absolutely nothing.”
Sharon was relieved no-one was hurt by the tree, telling the ECHO: “Like I say, when I had a good look there were no animals underneath the tree, there were no birds, and definitely no humans.
“Nobody’s been hurt, nobody’s died, and that we’ve got to be thankful for.
“A couple of scratches on a bit of metal isn’t going to do much harm.”
She added: “For me I thought ‘my car my car’.
“I’m a grandma riddled with arthritis and thought ‘I’m never going to get out again.
“Like I say, it’s only a car but thank the Lord there were no kids coming home from school.”
An Onward spokesperson told the ECHO the tree was cleared the same day as it fell and an investigation found all internal processes had been followed.
They said: “After receiving a report of the fallen tree, our contractors attended the site immediately and the area was cleared and made safe on the same day.
“Currently, the stump is still in place and we are now in the process of arranging for this to be cleared so that fence repairs can be progressed.
“All trees under our management are surveyed on either a one- or three-year survey programme, which is a standard practice and audited to make sure that we meet all our responsibilities.
“However, on very rare occasions beyond our control, trees sometimes fall due to natural occurrences.
“After the tree fell, we undertook an investigation which showed that all internal management processes had been followed in line with best practice.
“We continuously look for opportunities to improve our customers’ homes and neighbourhoods.
“Currently, a hedge management programme is in progress across Plantation Close and our Runcorn neighbourhoods to deliver improvements to green spaces in the area.”
