Council paints birds on walls while cutting down the trees where they live

UPDATED You couldn’t make this up if you tried. But you don’t have to – the council’s done it for you.

Roehampton residents have spent the past month painting wildlife on concrete through community workshops. The artwork celebrates “local identity and nature” as part of the Alton Estate regeneration. Weeks in, notices have appeared marking the real trees for removal.

Paint the birds. Cut down where they live. Call it improvement. Move on.

The artistic vision

Emergency Exit Arts ran workshops where residents co-designed murals now wrapping around the library. Artist Adalberto Lonardi created The Four Seasons in bold yellows, greens and blues. Additional panels show more birds, wildlife and community faces.

It’s lovely work, genuinely. Residents chose what went on their walls. Real participation, real creativity, real community involvement.

And standing directly in front of these freshly-painted celebrations of nature: two actual trees. The wooden things with leaves that birds live in. But not for much longer.

The trees, it turns out, have grown into protective railings around the library. Council inspectors have found they are in “defective condition, which poses an unacceptable risk.”

Which raises the obvious question: when exactly did trees start growing into railings? Last Tuesday? Or perhaps during a past decade of nobody looking after the Alton Estate, and caring even less.

Trees are the sloths of the natural world. They don’t leap fences overnight. They grow slowly. They are there as saplings when you’re a kid; as trees when you’re an adult. And in between they provide much to the world around us: shade, homes to wildlife, colour, continuity, beauty. Until someone cuts them down, spilling all the years of history and nature and carbon.

Replacing fences costs money. Maintaining trees costs money. Painting murals of trees on the other hand – that’s regeneration. That’s vision. That’s Borough of Culture funding at work.

What residents voted for

The Alton Estate ballot approved regeneration plans last month. Of 3,395 eligible voters out of 13,000 residents, 1,161 voted yes (34%), 248 voted no (7%), and 1,986 didn’t vote at all (58.5%).

The Landlord Offer promised “improved community facilities” including enhancements to Roehampton Library. It did not, as far as anyone can tell, mention “and then we’ll cut down the trees in front.”

Perhaps that detail got lost in translation. Perhaps it was filed under “improved facilities” on the basis that fewer trees means less leaf-clearing. Who knows.

What we do know: tree removal notices appeared after voting closed.

Many of those non-voters told us during the campaign: “They’re going to do what they want anyway.” They were the realists in the room. Trees scheduled for removal, now paint drying on the walls.

The council says it will plant replacement trees. So in 15 years’ time, residents will get to experience exactly what we have right now, minus all the benefits. Meanwhile, the murals will remain – bright, colourful celebrations of nature. Until they fade through the rain and sunlight and become bleached-out, depressing versions of their former selves in – what – two years?

What this tells you

This is the Alton Estate regeneration in miniature: cosmetic over substantive, decoration over reality, paint over preservation.

Residents painted birds on walls because the council asked them to celebrate nature. The council removes the trees where actual birds live. Both things can be true. Both things are true.

The workshops were genuine. The participation was real. The artwork is lovely. And the trees are still coming down.

Wandsworth Council says the trees pose unacceptable risk after the fence encroachment. It promises replacements under the adopted Tree and Woodland Delivery Framework.

It hasn’t explained when the fence-tree problem was first spotted, why nothing was done earlier, where replacements will go, or when residents might see them.

What it has explained, through action rather than words: paint is cheaper than maintenance, murals last longer than patience, and timing tree removal notices for after the ballot closes is just… efficient administration.

UPDATE 11 MARCH 2026: A month after this article was published, the metal railings that the trees have been constrained by and grown into were removed. We have been observing them periodically ever since.

It is not currently clear whether the council still intends to remove the trees. The damage caused by the railings (which should have been removed or at least expanded outwards years ago and have served as somewhat of a tourniquet, damaging the cambium layer) is very visible but doesn’t appear to have compromised the trees themselves. Neither tree has been fully “girdled” – compromised all the way around the trunk – which means they are likely to survive.

The tree on the left-hand-side of the library is in a more stressed situation – its trunk is almost square as a result of the metal railings but there are no obvious signs of worry e.g. fungus or wet patches. There remains a risk of long-term weakness at the obvious points would cause lead to it dying naturally.

The tree looked worse in December, shortly after the railings were removed, but appears to have regained in health heading into March. A critical indicator will come when leaves start to reappear. Without the railing tourniquet, it is possible the tree could gain a new lease of life.

If the council wanted to look after these trees, it could do several things:

• Enlarge the tree pit
• Decompact the soil around it
• Add organic mulch
• Ensure proper watering