The trees are located behind our boundary fence and the rear garden fences of neighbouring residents (see Photo TFT 10) and are not actively managed by any party. As shown in Photo TFT 1, these self-seeded trees are causing significant damage to our boundary fence and playground. Our grounds staff have confirmed that all the trees are self-setters.The trees present ongoing health and safety risks. Birds foul the playground daily, creating unhygienic conditions for children aged two, who regularly crawl and play on the surface. As a result, the site manager is required to jet-wash the area every day. Additionally, tree roots have caused the play surface to lift and split in multiple locations.A full playground replacement is scheduled for July at significant cost to the school. We cannot allow these issues to continue and compromise the new installation. The playground installer has confirmed that retaining the trees will result in further damage to the new surface.We therefore propose that the trees be cut back to ground level. Ownership of the trees is unclear; it is believed that when the school previously burnt down, the fence was not reinstated back-to-back with neighbouring properties, leaving an unmanaged strip of land where self-seeders have grown unchecked. Although the trees were cut back several years ago, they have since regrown aggressively and continue to damage the playground. On the next page, we have marked ourselves as the owner of the trees because ownership is unclear.

Wilkinson Primary School Walter Road Wolverhampton West Midlands WV14 8UR