The Wandle Trust would like to set the record straight following the article published last week entitled ‘Trees “should not be sacrificed for trout in river” ‘ – a title which we believe is misleading and far from the truth.

As a Rivers Trust, the Wandle Trust is motivated by improving the health of the river and its surrounding areas. In the interests of good tree management on the upper Wandle, non-native sycamores are being selectively removed since they are having detrimental effects on many species of native fauna and flora that make up the whole riverine environment, from the bottom of the food chain up. In many areas, bankside and in-stream vegetation has been completely shaded out by the unchecked growth of these free-seeding sycamores, with damaging effects on insects, mammals, birds and fish.

Tree thinning is a well-accepted practice in woodland management. To maintain healthy woodland and prevent all the trees from growing tall and spindly, thinning encourages the broad, full growth of the mature trees that remain. The 70 trees identified for work are spread out over a 900 metre stretch of river, and half of the trees concerned are classed as being very small, small and medium sized. No sections are being completely cleared. Instead, we are aiming to create a patchwork of light and shade, with a mosaic of habitats which will benefit the widest possible array of our native wildlife.

These tree works were designed in partnership with, and have been approved by, Sutton Council’s Biodiversity Manager and Senior Arboricultural and Woodlands Officer, as well as the Head of Parks. Extensive public consultations have also been undertaken, including letter drops to all nearby properties, information posters displayed for several months along the stretch of river we’re improving, and a talk by the Wandle Trust at the Carshalton and Clockhouse Local Committee in October last year.

After all of these efforts at consultation, only one objection has been received – from Jim Duffy, the instigator of last week’s article. We would be delighted to discuss the issues with him again, or point him towards case studies on other urban chalkstreams (such as the Lambourn in Newbury) where selective tree thinning and associated restoration works have had very beneficial effects on the river corridor as a whole.

Wandle Trust