Giant oak crashes down on playground
A LARGE oak tree has fallen on some of the play equipment at Saumarez Park.
The playground was closed yesterday as soon as Agriculture, Countryside & Land Management Services was made aware of the incident and tree surgeons from Guernsey Tree Services were called.
Owner Ric David and colleague Andy Torode arrived to find the oak had split down its trunk, with around half on the ground, partially on a piece of play equipment.
‘We decided that the rest of the tree is unsafe. It’s hanging over a lot of the play equipment so we’re going to take that down as well,’ Mr David said.
Felling the whole tree is expected to take all day today and possibly tomorrow morning.
The playground will re-open as soon as the work is done and the area has been made safe.
Mr David said it looked like the tree had a weak point that had fractured but was covered by ivy, making it difficult to notice.
‘Water had got in the split and now that the tree is in full leaf it’s heavy as well.
‘[Monday night] was a pretty bad night for it, we’ve been called to a few trees that have come down, likely because of the wind and rain we’ve had.’
