New trees vandalised within days of planting in Padstow

Some brand new arrivals to Padstow’s plantation woodland didn’t last the week. Days after a run of young tree whips went into the ground, several had already been knocked about, guards pulled loose and leaves scattered across the path beside them.

📷Credit: Padstow Town Council

What happened

Padstow Town Council says some of the trees planted this week in the Padstow plantation have been vandalised. In a statement, the council called the damage “disheartening” and confirmed the whips were replacement trees, planted on the recommendation of its annual tree inspection following the removal of dead or diseased trees elsewhere in the woodland.

The council maintains the outside woodland environment, in its words, for everyone’s benefit, now and in the future. Locations for the new plantings were chosen deliberately to give the saplings the best possible chance of survival.

📷Credit: Padstow Town Council

Why the trees went in

Tree whips are young, unbranched saplings, usually only a metre or so tall when planted, protected inside a plastic guard while their root systems establish. They’re a standard way to replace mature trees that have come down or been felled, and they take several years of steady growth before they start to resemble anything like the trees they’re replacing.

The council says it hopes this week’s plantings will flourish and become part of the landscape for years to come. Whoever damaged them has set that timeline back before it even properly began.

📷Credit: Padstow Town Council

A protected patch of woodland

The plantation isn’t just any patch of trees. It sits inside Padstow‘s Conservation Area and is covered by a Woodland Tree Preservation Order dating back to 1969, which means removal or any significant pruning work has to be formally applied for through Cornwall Council rather than carried out on a whim.

The council’s annual inspection is what flags up work needed in the first place, whether that’s identifying trees that have to come down or highlighting where pruning is required. It’s that same inspection process that led to this week’s replanting.

No word yet on whether anyone saw what happened, or whether the council plans to replace the damaged whips a second time.

📷Credit: Padstow Town Council