Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many mature trees have been felled by National Highways and its predecessors in each year since 2010.
National Highways does not have numbers of mature trees felled in management and maintenance or road improvement projects.
Trees on National Highways’ land may be felled for various reasons following specialist arboricultural advice, or for safety reasons to remove damaged, dead, diseased or dying trees that could pose a hazard to public safety.
In the construction of road projects, National Highways seeks to retain existing trees where possible to minimise landscape change and biodiversity impacts. Where this is not possible, changes are documented in the project’s environmental assessment.