- Residents in Sittingbourne, Kent, say the poplar trees are putting them at risk
Residents living in a Kent suburb say overgrown trees blocking sunshine from their homes are making their lives a misery – and could put off potential buyers.
The 50ft hybrid black poplar trees in Sunset Drive, Sittingbourne, are said to restrict natural light while locals say they have been slipping and injuring themselves due to fallen leaves.
Some felled trees have even done damage to properties in the past – and homeowners say they’ve been warned the darkness could make it more difficult to sell their homes.
They have also accused Swale Borough Council of failing to take effective action despite years of complaints from people living in the area where some homes have sold in the past for half a million pounds.
Julie Roalf, 59, who lives on Sunset Drive, told of how the problems had got significantly worse in recent years.
The mother-of-one, who is an above-knee amputee, said: ‘When the leaves drop, and there are a lot of them, they’re wet and cause me to fall – I can’t count how many times I have fallen over as there are twigs and branches too.
‘We can’t really see outside all that well when the sun isn’t out because of how dark it is.’
Mrs Roalf said the trees led to mental as well as physical problems for residents, adding: ‘It can be very depressing.
‘The house is so dark most of the time and when my mother-in-law was living with us upstairs before she passed, her time here could have been improved if the issue had been sorted.
‘We have to have the lights on in the house a lot too – my husband gets in shortly after lunch and straightaway he puts them on.
‘We had an estate agent who came over a little while ago when the house was on the market and he said the darkness may affect how quickly the house is sold.’
The tree soar above a three-storey house in the area, with Mrs Roalf saying that ‘just shows how they’re too high – especially when they’re brushing against it’.
She added: ‘They’re all leaning as well, with none of them straight, and the sap also goes on the car and on the windows.
‘When we get a storm or even just windy weather, it is quite frightening – I always park my car around the side out the way. So it does worry me now about the house’s foundations.’
Mrs Roalf, who works in a charity shop, has live there with her husband Steve for the past 18 years.
The couple complained that no work had been carried out by the local council to cut back the trees since before the pandemic.
She went on to say: ‘They are lovely houses here, but we’ve been trying for at least five years to get this sorted.
‘All that has ever happened is a couple of trees have been taken down which were really leaning or had already fallen.
‘They have also trimmed up some of the lower branches so we can drive down the road, but they have never been topped.
‘I get a different story every time I phone. The last I was told was the trees would be reduced by a third in October, but that never happened.
‘I then contacted the council again in December and they said they would be trimmed in January, but that also didn’t happen.’
Fellow resident Amanda Anderson, 40, says one tree on her street has already fallen down.
The mother-of-three said: ‘There is potential for them to fall and cause damage to the property.
‘One did fall down in the past but luckily fell the other way – so, as lovely as they can look, they’re definitely a danger.’
Emma Tench, another local, has told of urgently calling contractors to trim trees back outside her home in nearby Argent Way last October after her neighbour’s windows were shattered by branches in the high winds.
Six months later Mrs Tench, whose mother was also struck in the face by a branch from an overgrown tree, says she’s still concerned.
She said: ‘The initial cut-back has happened, but the trees still haven’t been topped.
‘If you walk down the pathways outside of homes, you’ll see the trees are as tall as the houses and still can cause damage.’
Swale Borough Council said they were ‘aware of the tree inquiries’ and had ‘pruned and cut out several of the closest trees in the past’.
The authority added: ‘We have already assessed the current situation and will issue work in accordance with our tree maintenance policy.’
But James Hunt, Conservative ward councillor for the area, insisted work needed to be done quickly to address the problem of the trees which he described as being ‘in dire need of management’.
He said: ‘It is frustrating it appears this is down the council’s priority list when mismanagement like this has an impact on residents living nearby.’
Other Sonora Fields residents said felled trees near them had already caused damage to their homes.