Toby Carvery owner urged to fund ‘life support’ for felled Enfield oak | Trees and forests

Restaurant chain Toby’s Carvery is being asked to pay life support for an old oak tree whose owner chopped down to public dismay last spring.

The trunk of a 500-year-old tree on the edge of the Toby Carvery car park in Enfield’s Whitewebbs Park is showing signs of regrowth despite its branches being cut down by the restaurant’s contractors in April, experts say.

Unauthorized logging is currently under investigation by the Forestry Commission. It was also the center of a legal dispute between Mitchells & Butlers Retail, the company that runs Toby Carvery, and landowner Enfield council, which was not consulted over the tree work, sparking anger from the leader.

Meanwhile, Toby Carvery is under pressure to help with the fixes by funding a plan to revive the logging.

Russell Miller, an arborist who specializes in ancient trees, says oak remains can be put on a kind of “life support” relatively cheaply. such a system Helped preserve the oldest tree in Polandhe said.

Miller said the Toby Carvery oak was “alive and resprouting – it’s a matter of whether those sprouts dry out and die, or they don’t have enough photosynthetic capacity to produce enough energy to sustain the root system in the medium term.”

He added: “The way to effect this would be to put in a sprinkler system which would reduce the risk of individual shot failure and system failure. This would require a tank and pump sprinkler systems in the Toby Carvery car park. It would only cost around £10,000 and some project management.”

Adam Cormack, head of campaigns at the Woodland Trust, said: “Ancient trees such as the Whitewebbs oak are irreplaceable. It is vital that every effort is made to keep what remains alive so that they can continue to help wildlife thrive, inspire and educate future generations.”

“We hope that Toby Carvey will do all he can to ensure this magnificent tree has the best chance of survival.”

Cormack acknowledged the oak’s chances of regenerating were uncertain. “Such studies are highly experimental, but we must try everything to secure the future of this extraordinary tree,” he said.

“In 200 years, we want a family to be able to walk by, point out the marks on its trunk and tell the story of when the Whitewebbs oak nearly died. We must act now to preserve its remains.”

He added that the Forestry Commission investigation “should shed further light on this disturbing incident”.

After the fall, Mitchells & Butlers Retail claims tree is dead. It was stated that the contractors were informed that the tree had to be cut down for safety reasons.

The company declined to comment on the call to fund initiatives to keep the tree alive.