'He should have been more patient': Builder fined for having protected tree stripped without permission
A builder who ordered for a protected tree to be stripped on a site where his company was building flats has been hit with a huge court bill.
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The sycamore tree, estimated by an expert to be 70 or 80 years old, was on a derelict site in Worcester Street, Stourbridge, which was being redeveloped into flats, Dudley Magistrates Court heard on Wednesday.
David Gough, 54, had ordered for the tree's branches and leaves to be removed because he feared branches would fall from it and he felt the borough council was "dragging its feet" in deciding on an application to remove part of it, the court heard.
An application for permission to remove it entirely had been lodged but was refused in May last year. The tree is protected by an order made in 2002 and any attempt to remove it or significantly alter it must be justified to Dudley Council.
A council tree expert visited the site and did not feel the removal of the tree and the resulting loss of visual amenity would be justified, prosecutor Saima Ahmed-Aziz told the court on Wednesday.
But in September the council was informed that unauthorised work had been carried out on the tree and another site visit was arranged.
A council officer found "the entire crown of the sycamore tree [its branches and leaves] had been removed", said Miss Ahmed-Aziz.
