Wokingham

Team work kept the Wokingham district moving during the recent storms – as council staff and contractors combined to clear more than 160 fallen trees from roads.

Wokingham District Council’s environment services received 655 calls and visited 175 sites on Thursday January 18, during which every major road in the Wokingham district was blocked at one time or another.

All the staff in the tree and landscape and environment services team took part in the clean up and were joined by other council officers and contractors in the effort.

And, despite the huge number of calls, the team managed to keep the traffic moving as well as possible and also helped emergency services to free people who had been trapped by trees falling on their cars.

Some grateful residents have since contacted the environment services team to thank them for their efforts.

Jon Matthews, senior arboriculturalist at Wokingham District Council, said: “It was a phenomenal effort from all concerned to keep the roads as clear as possible. All the main roads in the Wokingham district were blocked by falling trees at one point or another, some of them more than once.

“One of the worst problem we had to deal with was in Barkham Road, where two huge oak trees fell across the road; the contractors had only just got back from clearing one when they had a call to say another had come down.

“All round it was a great team effort, with everybody putting in extra hours to help deal with the situation. Our contractors were fantastic, some of them did not finish until the early hours of Friday.”

Since then the emergency the environment services team has continued to clear fallen branches and vegetation from highways.

And the fallen Wokingham wood will not be wasted; residents have already cleared some of the timber left at roadsides to use as firewood and the rest will be taken to Dinton Pastures Country Park where it will be recycled as wood chips, planks or wood for benches. Wood chippings produced from the fallen trees will also be sold at the country park.

Cllr Rob Stanton, executive member for Wokingham corporate services, said: “Congratulations to everybody involved in this emergency operation. It is good to know we have a team of staff and contractors willing and able to rally round in a situation like this and help keep the Wokingham district moving when severe weather strikes.”

Wokingham District Council