Does Folkestone & Hythe District Council Have A Tree Risk Assessment For The Leas Escarpments Cliff Top Summit?

 So apparently, Folkestone & Hythe District Council does not own the escarpment part, which is the cliff face or Radnor Cliffs as we know them off the Leas from Metropole Road West towards the Martello Tower, and therefore does not inspect the trees. Odd, don't you think that this part of the escarpment, the council has imposed a Tree Preservation order on since 2009, but nowhere else along the promenade. So if one of these trees hits you, the council would not be liable; we presume the individual homeowners of the properties at the foot of this 120-foot cliff would be. That can't be right, how can they be liable for trees sitting 120ft up in the air above their back gardens when the council has a tree preservation order on them and won't let them cut them down without strict permission from the council? Surely a cliff face that high above their properties can't be on their deeds showing as the boundary of their properties. Which insurance company would take on such a risk, which solicitor would advise buying such a property, and which mortgage lender would lend on such a property?

 

 

This was the response to my Freedom of Information Request to FHDC regarding tree risk assessments carried out on the Leas escarpment summit.

Dated 18th of November.

1. Annual visual inspections are undertaken.

2. All trees were removed from the Zig Zag path in summer 2024. The area of the Leas escarpment that extends westwards from Metropole Road West is not in FHDC ownership, and as such, these trees are not inspected by FHDC.

3. The last visual inspection was undertaken in May 2025.

4. Overall, the trees along the Leas escarpment are deemed to pose a broadly acceptable risk to users of the site.

 5. No trees were found that posed a serious risk of falling. Works are undertaken to any trees found to pose an unacceptable risk. Work ranges from remedial pruning to complete removal depending on the level of risk posed and the location of the tree(s).

Routine and adhoc inspections of trees are undertaken several times a year / following adverse weather/ following reports of concern form the public, if required a remedial job will be logged and the team will deal with any action required quickly.

6. Inspection dates are recorded on software that is not publicly accessible, within a remote third-party database that is not extractable.

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 Folkestone & Hythe District Council state alarmingly that they do not inspect the tallest trees on the tallest part of the Leas escarpment summit that sit above some 25 properties at Radnor Cliff, the farthest end of the Leas. This is because they claim this is the only part of the escarpment west of Metropole Road West that they do not own. They therefore do not inspect those trees, even though they are aware that a great many of the public walk beneath these tall trees on the Madeira Walk, where the abandoned toilet block is. I find it madness that the public walks beneath these trees, that the council can exempt itself from having any responsibility towards people's health and safety in a public space.

These trees are the only ones on the entire Leas escarpment and cliff summit that have a Tree Preservation Order on them since 2009, when it was imposed. So I am assuming these poor 25+ homeowners at the base of the 120ft drop at Radnor Cliffs are responsible for the trees at the top that they cannot cut back or down without permission from the very council that won't inspect them.

 

 

 

These questions need to be asked of FHDC.

They stated that in their opinion, the Risk assessments found no immediate issue with any of the trees on the Leas. I'm sure if I had made the same inquiry back in early 2023 and included the trees overhanging the Road of Remembrance, the answers would have laughably been the same; there were no issues with any of the trees.

Finally, they told me they could not let me have copies of any Risk Assessments, as inspection dates are recorded on software that is not publicly accessible, within a remote third-party database that is not extractable. 

 

Why don't they have any hard paper copies of the Tree RAs available?

This seems nonsense to me, surely what can be uploaded can be equally downloaded. We, the public, should have access to these tree risk assessments on the trees on the Leas Promenade.

We also need to be advised of where on the Leas the council has identified 2 other locations that are at risk of there being landslides. What steps have they undertaken to protect the public and or to mitigate the risk? We have seen no areas cordoned off with warning signs anywhere.

Their own report states that trees that pose a threat need to be pollarded, yet so far, for the whole of 2025, only one tree has been taken down, towards the top of the Zig Zag path in May.

How many more wake-up calls does FHDC need? Mother Nature sent them a huge one in January 2024 over the Road of Remembrance.

 

If you are concerned about how our precious Leas Promenade is being managed by Folkestone & Hythe District Council then join our private Facebook Group.

 

Protect & Preserve The Folkestone Leas. 

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/746105824775303