There’s nothing remarkable about the photo above, and given the storms we’ve had in the past few days it’s not surprising that trees have come down, but if you look closely you will see the fallen tree is resting on a cable, the only thing stopping it from reaching the ground.
I took the photo in Starvecrow Lane in rural Peasmarsh at around 8.15am on Monday 8 December as I made my way to Little Gate Farm in Beckley. I drive an old Land Rover Defender and was just able to pass beneath it. Others had done the same and many had already reported the problem to UK Power Networks.
They eventually arrived on the scene but decided that the offending tree was not their responsibility after all, it was a matter for BT as it was a telephone cable which was holding the tree up.
During the course of the day the trunk fell further down (the cable had presumably stretched under the weight) making the road impassable. BT arrived on site and concluded that this was a situation for the Highways Agency to sort out as the tree was blocking the highway.
To try and keep everyone safe the police arrived and closed the lane in both directions, two police cars each with two officers on board. It was the police who filled me in on the details as I stopped at their road block on my way home at around 4.30pm on Monday. Traffic was being diverted from Starvecrow Lane and the options were to turn around and rejoin Horseshoe Lane to Beckley, rejoin Udimore Road, or drive along Hayes Lane and then connect with these two lanes.
When I spoke to one of the police officers on duty, I offered to bring my chainsaw and cut up the tree but given that there was a cable involved they quite rightly said “no” so the tree remained in place with traffic being diverted.
Starvecrow Lane was effectively impassable for the whole of Monday. According to the police officer on duty, UK Power Networks, BT and the Highways Agency all made a site visit but nobody seemed prepared to take responsibility. Whilst all this head scratching was going on, four police officers with two vehicles had spent hours manning a road block and were left carrying the baby until common sense prevailed. As for passing motorists, delivery drivers and anyone else who was just trying to go about their daily business, well they didn’t seem to matter, not to mention the waste of police resources.
Overnight the tree was removed and the lane opened, the road closed signs were awaiting collection and life returned to normal.
Call me old-fashioned but surely, given all the technology available to us now, a little communication, joined up thinking, common sense and cooperation might have got the lane open far sooner than was the case.
Image Credits: Nick Forman .