London Plane will be moved from Chiswick High Road to Islington playground

On Thursday 14th October, specialist tree surgeons will dismantle a dead London Plane tree on Chiswick High Road and reassemble it at Three Corners adventure playground in Islington.

Monkey-Do, a non-profit company that runs tree-climbing activities for children, arranged for the tree to be moved across London so that children at an Islington playground would have a tree to climb.

Company director and Stamford Brook resident Leo Murray said, “We believe all children should have the opportunity to climb trees, but the site at Three Corners currently has no trees that are big enough. We had originally planned to collect an Oak tree from a woodland outside London to use at the playground, but we all had mixed feelings about chopping down a live tree and sinking it in concrete.”

When Murray, a former tree surgeon, noticed the dead tree on Chiswick High Road he approached Hounslow Council, who told him that the tree had been scheduled for removal in October.

Murray continued, “When we contacted Hounslow about the London Plane they were more than happy to agree to let us take it away. It is always sad when a mature street tree dies, but at least this one will have a second life as a climbing frame for children in Islington. Since it grew next to a busy high road, this tree has probably never had the chance to be climbed by a child. So we’d like to think that this is what the tree would have wanted.”

Guy Lawrence, Islington Council’s project manager for the Three Corner’s Playground development, said, “Islington is delighted to welcome the tree to our playground – and the children are looking forward to putting it to good use too.”

Monkey-Do have commissioned a specialist in giant chainsaw art to carry out the complicated operation of taking the tree apart at the roadside in such a way that it can be safely put back together again.

October 12, 2010