Folkestone & Hythe District Council Don't Care Leas About It's Trees


 

 
 
 
This is what comes from having a tree-hugging Green Party running a local authority that they can't see the dead wood for the trees. To them, it becomes too political for them to even have to consider that trees sometimes do have to be taken down before they fall down.
 
 
 
Thank God there are whistleblowers in every organisation and in Government & Local Government Departments.
 
 
 

One such Whistleblower at FHDC contacted us last year and told us that we must obtain, under a Freedom Of Information request from FHDC, their commissioned LIDAR & VSSA Report into the possible cause of the landslides along the whole of the Leas escarpment cliff face and summit. The whistleblower told us its findings were potentially concerning regarding the threat of other areas at risk of landslides, and because FHDC had basically ignored the report and kicked it into the long grass.


 LIDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, is an active remote sensing system that can be used to measure vegetation height across wide areas. It can show us the topography, i.e. lay of the land beneath tree canopies and vegetation. 

 

VSSA  Visual Slope Stability Assessment

 

 

The report highlighted 2 specific areas along the Leas that concerned the company, EPS Ltd., which carried out the Visual Slope Stability Assessment.

These 2 specific areas are named in the report as L1 and L2

 L1 is directly west and just a few yards from the Metropole Steps, an area where we believe a landslide occurred sometime around 2003. 

 L2 is directly west of the Leas Cliff Hall and directly in front of the Sensory Gardens that we have relentlessly asked FHDC to have pollarded, as we know they are too tall, too heavy, evergreen Holm Oaks, shallow rooted that sway about being leveraged by every storm and tempest. Sitting on shallow top soil above sand and sandstone perched precariously on the top of the cliff face summit.

When I emailed the FHDC Director of Operations last year about removing these trees, which also pose a serious light issue in the area, making the whole area feel and look very dark, where drunks, drug dealers, and drug users hang out during the day, but most significantly after dark. The trees block out any light from off the sea, including moonlight.

Many women, as well as some men, including myself avoid walking in this area after dark, as it's become a no-go area on the Leas, as I have been approached by 2 drunks one night, and one tried to kick my dog. Just 2 weeks ago, my friend and I were verbally threatened by someone in the Sensory Gardens as we walked past. He threatened to slit our throats. We called the police on 999, but they declined to send anyone away as we had walked away and were no longer in any threat.


The response I got back on the 27th of November from the Director of Operations was that they the council had no plans to remove the trees from opposite the Sensory Gardens.

This is even though the council's own privately commissioned LIDAR and Visual Slope Stability Assessment, which the council has had the report on since the 26th of June 2024, highlights that to those carrying out the survey, they considered the slope in this area opposite the Sensory Gardens to be the second area of concern along the whole Leas escarpment.

 The report on page 15 states that loose soils near the footpath could contribute to instability.

In other words as soil erodes away from a trees root system every time it rains this top soil is gone it can't ever be replaced and the tree or trees in this case will continue to lean forward downwards and down the slope until eventually they will fall as they have lost their anchorage and will likely cause a landslide as what happened at the Road of Remembrance half a mile away in January 2024. 




  


 


So there we have it, when it comes to its trees on the Leas FHDC simply don't care leas.


See our YouTube video below on the real visible risk of trees falling in this location.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A654NcNb_8 


Join us on our Private Facebook Group if what concerns us about our precious Leas Promenade also concerns you. 



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

 

 

 

Location: Folkestone, UK

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