Villagers Protest Plan to Fell 200-Year-Old Oaks After Insurer Links Roots to Subsidence

Villagers in the West Sussex village of Billingshurst are pressing parish councillors to block plans to fell two 200-year-old oak trees after an insurance company said their roots had caused damage to a nearby house.

Insurance firm AXA told the landowner, Billingshurst Parish Council, that the roots of the three-oak group known locally as the Billingshurst Sisters have caused cracks and subsidence to a home built in the 1980s and that two of the trees must be removed. Horsham District Council lifted a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) on the trees and has given permission for them to be felled, leaving the parish council to decide whether to allow the work.

A Billingshurst Parish Council meeting scheduled for 15 September will determine the trees' fate, after a petition calling for their preservation gathered more than 2,500 signatures. Campaigners and residents say the oaks, planted during the reign of King George III and standing about 90 feet high, are important for local biodiversity, flood mitigation and community wellbeing.

"These trees are vital to the community's ecosystem," said Gabi Barrett, who launched the petition. She and others say alternative explanations for the subsidence, such as shallow foundations or other structural factors, have not been properly examined and that the loss of mature trees would damage the local environment.

David and Ruth Evans, who have lived nearby for 35 years, said they were "stunned" by the decision to permit felling. Local resident Mark Summerfield recalled sheltering under the canopy during school cricket matches and said it would be "dreadful" if the trees were removed because of damage to an extension.

An AXA UK spokesman said the company recognises the ecological importance of trees but must also "find a solution which protects" its customer. The homeowner involved declined to comment.

Councillor Colette Blackburn, Horsham District Council's cabinet member for Climate Action and Nature Recovery, wrote to AXA urging it to reconsider. "The trees are 200 years old and, if saved, might well live for several hundred more," Blackburn said.

Campaigners have criticised what they describe as a growing pattern in which insurers seek the removal of trees to settle subsidence claims. A Freedom of Information request published in July found that English councils allowed about 1,000 trees to be felled despite previously having TPOs between 2019 and 2024, a figure campaigners say reflects fears among councils about liability for property repairs.

Horsham District Council granted permission to fell after lifting the TPO; the council said the decision followed its established processes. Billingshurst Parish Council is the landowner and has the authority to permit or refuse the work. If approval is granted, the two oaks would be felled to satisfy the insurer’s claim-related requirements.

Experts say mature trees provide multiple environmental services, including supporting wildlife, stabilising soils and intercepting rainfall. Campaigners warn that removing long-established trees can reduce local resilience to flooding and heat and undermine community amenity.

The dispute in Billingshurst reflects tensions between property protection, legal liability and conservation as local authorities, homeowners and insurers navigate claims linked to tree roots and subsidence. The parish council's decision on 15 September will determine whether the Billingshurst Sisters remain a feature of the village landscape or are removed to resolve the insurance claim.