A14 tree planting not good enough, says body

16 hours ago

Aimee DexterCambridgeshire

News image — More than 860,000 trees were originally planted along a new stretch of the A14 in Cambridgeshire, but a large proportion of them died

National Highways Tree planting on the embankment of a dual carriageway road. The saplings are protected by green plastic tubing. End of motorway signage is visible on a sliproad, with lorries and cars on the dual carriageway itself. — More than 860,000 trees were originally planted along a new stretch of the A14 in Cambridgeshire, but a large proportion of them died

National Highways has admitted its "performance on tree planting has not been good enough", as it looks to put in 50,000 more along the A14 where thousands have died.

The trees will be planted along the new part of the A-road, between Huntingdon and Cambridge, where many of the 860,000 that were originally put in never grew.

The government-owned company said after "identifying losses caused by several factors", it had started "a 50,000 tree trial to test new measures and inform our future planting regime".

Vhari Russell, the founder of Creating Nature's Corridors, welcomed the trial but raised concerns about the trees being planted at the wrong time of year.

In March 2023, National Highways said it would replant 160,000 trees and shrubs after many of the first batch that were put in before the stretch of road opened in 2020 failed to grow.

Last June, a Cambridgeshire County Council meeting heard that sections of the £1.5bn upgraded road still looked "like a desert", leading to local residents planting new trees themselves.

A National Highways spokesperson said the A14 upgrade had "delivered major economic, safety and environmental benefits, but we recognise that our performance on tree planting has not been good enough".

"After identifying losses caused by several factors, including rootstock selection, weather conditions, soil nutrient levels and aftercare, we have launched a 50,000 tree trial to test new measures and inform our future planting regime for all our schemes."

A spokesperson said the planting of trees had finished, or would be imminently, and that it was "in line with the end of planting season".

Tom Jackson/BBC Vhari Russell is smiling at the camera, wearing a light blue T-shirt. She has shoulder-length brown hair and is wearing spectacles and has a necklace on. She is standing in front of a grass verge with rows of newly planted saplings and more mature trees — Vhari Russell planted about 150 of her own trees along the road last year

Russell, who lives in Brampton, Cambridgeshire, which the tree screening was looking to protect from noise, said she welcomed the news, but there was "disappointment that they are planting them out of what would be the natural planting season".

"My fingers are tightly crossed but, having just planted a 35-acre wood at Grafham, we made sure we got everything in by early March so we gave every single sapling the best possible chance," she said.

Russell said she put in about 150 of her own trees along the roadside last year.

She added that two volunteer groups had collected "29 bin bags of tree guards and litter", after the plastic guards that protected the failed trees had been strewn all over the embankments.

She said National Highways had reassured her the guards would be collected when the new saplings were planted.

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