Grow on trees: fury as Tower Hamlets expected to allow developer to dig up ancient mulberry tree for new homes

A petition against plans to uproot and relocate an ancient mulberry tree in Bethnal Green has been signed by nearly 10,000 people. 
Veteran: the tree suffered bomb damage in the Blitz but survived. Now it faces a new threat, say protesters
Courtesy of Barts Health NHS Trust Archives
Ruth Bloomfield19 September 2018

It survived the Blitz — and for hundreds of years before that — but now an ancient tree is to be uprooted and relocated to make way for new apartments, despite fears the move could cause damage resulting in the mulberry’s “probable death”.

Thousands have signed a petition to save the tree, which grows in the grounds of the former London Chest Hospital beside Victoria Park in Bethnal Green.

However, Tower Hamlets council is this week expected to approve a redevelopement scheme to create 291 flats in and around the Grade II-listed hospital building which has stood empty for three years.

As a sop to objectors, housebuilder Crest Nicholson has unveiled plans to dig up the gnarled tree, thought to be more than 500 years old, and replant it within the hospital grounds.

“The scale of the public benefits deliverable through the scheme is considered to outweigh the potential risk of the veteran black mulberry tree not surviving the proposed relocation,” says Ann Sutcliffe, the council’s acting corporate director of place, in a report which will be considered by planners.

Local residents have made almost 400 individual objections against the proposal, while an online petition launched by the East End Preservation Society has been signed by nearly 10,000 people.

The Woodland Trust also opposes the plan to relocate the tree, planted by an early Bishop of London, to the lawn in front of the main hospital building, arguing that the aged mulberry is too frail to survive the move.

“The tree’s assumed age of over 500 years and the fragility of this specimen means that any relocation will have a detrimental impact on the remaining lifespan of the tree,” reads the official objection from the charity. “The trust is concerned that there is a distinct possibility that an attempt to move it would indeed result in irreparable damage, and probably death.”

Rather than move the tree to fit the new development, the trust believes Crest Nicholson should redraw its plans to allow the mulberry to stay exactly where it is.

Despite the scale of the objections, believed to be unprecedented in support of a single tree, and a High Court ruling against an earlier attempt to remove the mulberry, Tower Hamlets has decided to support the project at a time of huge demand for new homes in London.

Just over a third of the flats will be affordable, aimed at low- and middle-income buyers and renters.

“The scheme would provide significant public benefits including securing the listed hospital’s future upkeep and conservation, additional housing and affordable housing,” says Sutcliffe.

A spokeswoman for Crest Nicholson said: “Crest Nicholson are acutely aware that the history of th­­e site and the former hospital is of huge importance to the local community. The proposals are an opportunity to safeguard the future of the Grade II Listed main building.

“The challenges and constraints in respect of how the site can be developed have been by no means straightforward; but we are proud and excited about the proposal.

“The relocation … [of the mulberry tree] … is necessary to ensure the delivery of 291 homes of which 86 homes will be affordable, alongside a wide range of other public and heritage benefits and enhancements. Once the tree has been re-positioned, it will be the focus of a bespoke veteran tree management plan, seeking to manage its current defects and improving its long term outlook.”