Planned Grounds Maintenance

Bute Park Vegetation Management and Tree Works

Recently, a range of vegetation management and tree works have been taking place in the Blackweir area of Bute Park, with further works planned in the coming weeks.

These activities are required to ensure public safety for the Blackweir Live events. The scope of these works is limited and will not impact Bute Park's nationally recognised arboretum.

All works are being carried out by qualified, experienced, and approved Arboricultural Association tree contractors, under the close supervision of an independent tree consultant and ecologist.

This ensures no adverse impacts on wildlife and maximizes biodiversity benefits.

The works are being carried out now to avoid interfering with the bird-nesting season. Trees are also checked for any signs of nesting and other wildlife before any work is undertaken.

The works include:

• Felling 5 Ash trees suffering from Ash dieback disease and one dead Elm tree to ensure public safety. The trunk of one Ash tree is being retained as a ‘monolith’ to provide valuable habitat for wildlife. Due to the proximity of these trees to a cycleway and pedestrian footpaths it would have been necessary to remove them regardless of the planned Blackweir Live event.
• Removing 10 to 15 singular Ash tree stems due to Ash dieback.
• Coppicing 12 trees to create access points for the Blackweir events. This Coppicing work is only being done on suitable, healthy trees which can recover and regrow. It involves cutting them back to ground level. Coppicing encourages regeneration and regrowth over time. Coppicing – even to this level which is required in this case to enable access - does not kill trees, and it can result in overall improvements in biodiversity. The coppicing of these trees does not impact on Bute Park's nationally recognised arboretum.
• Removing dead wood and limbs or lifting the crowns of several trees, which is a standard tree maintenance process that does not impact tree health.
• Clearing a range of scrub, mainly bramble and invasive, non-native rhododendron.
• Leaving some timber and brash onsite in habitat piles to provide habitat for insects and other wildlife. (Brash is smaller branches, twigs, and foliage that are typically removed during tree pruning or felling).
• Crown lifting of trees on the northern and western paths around Blackweir Fields. Crown lifting is the removal of low hanging branches and does not impact the overall health of trees. It is carried out to ensure accessibility remains on paths.

These types of works are part of ongoing maintenance and conservation management programmes in various parks, woodlands, and green spaces.

The specific access points for the Blackweir Live events were chosen for their less dense vegetation.

These events will generate income for the Council, which will be ring-fenced to support the city’s Music City ambitions while also providing additional investment into the city’s parks.

The Council will also work with stakeholders, including the Friends of Bute Park, to identify further investment opportunities in Bute Park. A replacement planting programme will also be developed.

Over the past four years, the Council has planted more than 100,000 new trees and remains committed to increasing the overall tree canopy coverage in the city from 18.9% to 25% through its Coed Caerdydd urban forest project.