Sandown Resident Accuses Council Of "Appalling Destruction" In Los Altos Park

A Sandown resident has accused the Isle of Wight Council of “appalling destruction” in Los Altos Park – but the council says the works were crucial for safety reasons.

Claire Jackson said County Hall had felled “multiple” historic trees in the park which provided a “stunning backdrop” to the Broadway Park Hotel.

Her outcry comes after the council carried out ‘essential safety works’ at the park in Autumn 2024, involving the removal of ‘poorer specimens of the non-native Holm Oak’.

Ms Jackson said:

“Tree trunks and tree stumps are still left where they were felled last year”.

The trees, she added, were “obviously” part of the park’s beauty.

The council previously said the work was not only ‘crucial for public safety’ but also a ‘necessary step to preserve and enhance biodiversity, allowing native tree species and wildlife to thrive’.

In September last year, County Hall’s tree officer Tony Gillingham said:

“Because of their tall slender nature, many of the park’s Holm Oaks suffer from structural defects that require regular arborist intervention.

“Trees that grow very close together in this way, without thinning or management, tend to develop poor structural form, becoming very slender and unbalanced, forming defects such as bark inclusions that are prone to failure.

“Over the last year, structural failures have increased, and trees have begun to collapse putting people at risk.

“Last winter, at least six trees failed in this way, and many more failed for other structural reasons. If we do nothing, we will steadily lose these trees as they continue to collapse.”