The roadside still looks like a half-naked version of what it should be
This summer, I drove down to Gatwick from Cambridge at the start of a holiday. But I’m not about to bore you with holiday snaps. What really struck me about the journey was part of the M25, where the wide tarmac lanes were bordered by healthy-looking trees.
I was amazed that a roadside woodland could be so beautiful, when for the past 10 years or so the main roads I have been using are the A1 and the A14. The latter has become my least favourite road, because despite repeated tree planting, the roadside still looks like a half-naked version of what it should be.
If you have driven along the A14 between Cambridge and the A1 in recent years, you will know exactly what I’m talking about. Despite promises of a biodiversity net gain, the current state of the roadside is a constant reminder of time, money, and effort wasted – and environmental promises broken.
The first public sign that all was not well came in March 2021, when a council report said that a ‘large proportion’ of the one million trees planted as part of the scheme had died.
In March 2023, the agency admitted a ‘high failure rate’, after an internal review found that 75 per cent of the trees had died. It said that it would be undertaking a replanting scheme to the tune of £2.9 million, with around 160,000 new trees planted by March 2024.
You would think that would be the end of the story – lessons learned, a new plan in place, and trees planted and thriving. But this appears to be an ongoing series with no end in sight, and I’m not the only person who has noticed.
We reported on the issue of the trees in January of this year, after a Brampton man said the A14 was “where trees come to die”. The issue arose again in June, when councillors said the area ‘looks like a desert’.
In the winter and spring, I thought it was unfair to criticise National Highways when trees and plants elsewhere were only just returning to full splendour. Yet, every single time I have driven along that stretch of road this year to date – around 15 times – I have seen little overall improvement, no matter the season.
True, it’s hard to judge with absolute accuracy when you’re driving past at around 70mph, navigating other traffic. The overall impression I get is that most of the trees planted along the A14 have not grown successfully.
The growth that can be seen is undermined by the plastic tree guards highlighting every spot where a tree should be but isn’t, like grave markers at a tree cemetery. In some areas, the plastic guards huddle tightly together in rows, entirely devoid of any signs of plant life.
There are still so many questions that National Highways needs to answer. Why has this failed – not once, but multiple times? Will it ever succeed? How much money has been poured into this? Were there alternatives that would have worked better, perhaps at a lower cost?
For now, it seems as though the A14 will remain a place where trees are planted only to die. And when I’m driving home for Christmas, I know my festive spirit will be dampened by the frustration and anger I feel every time I see an empty tree guard.
