Resident says someone is ‘lurking’ in Woodland Walk damaging trees

The resident claims the damage to the trees has been ongoing for a number of years. 

Resident Linda Smith said: “Someone is damaging the trees in Boscombe in the Woodland Walk.

“This has been ongoing for at least a couple of years and has been highlighted to the council and the police.

“It concerns me greatly that we have someone with a sharp bladed instrument (knife or small axe) lurking in Woodland Walk, but no one seems interested.

“This has already caused the death of one yew tree and I fear the ongoing damage will kill other trees.

“The police seem to think that squirrels are doing this, which is just laughable. The tool marks can be seen on the wood.”

Linda said she reported the incident to local Councillor George Farqhuar who reported it to the police.

Councillor George Farqhuar said: “There was a discussion with regards to whether or not the damage was caused by dogs attacking the trees or people hanging around underneath the trees because there are no benches on that section of the woodland walk.

“I am a great advocate for having benches put in because if you have sets of eyes sitting there reading their newspaper or enjoying the sights, people that are up to nefarious purposes such as drug dealing are not going to be hanging around with their dogs.

“One resident was concerned that it was cut marks made with a sharp edge, I had a look at the marks myself. It looked to me at that time like it was claw marks or teeth marks from a dog.

“There are a fair number of trees that have been affected. I contacted the team who sent someone out to the trees and they said it wasn’t a concern at that time.

“I also reported it to Helen Deacon who is the neighbourhood police team inspector and they were increasing PCSO patrols.

“The jury is out with regards to whether it is a blade or damage caused by dogs.

“Nobody knows whether it's an edged weapon or not but the police have been informed.”

Councillor Farqhuar added: “I find it very disappointing. What I would urge is that with the town's fund, they actually listen to the residents and install benches along that area.

“I do not believe that benches encourage antisocial behaviour, I believe that they discourage anti-social behaviour because there are normal everyday decent folk that use the benches.

“A lot of people in the ward have accessibility issues and benches provide somewhere to rest and that drives away drug activity and vandalism because they don't want to be seen.”

A BCP Council spokesperson said: “Colleagues in the parks and environment teams were not aware of the situation in Woodland Walk, Boscombe, as raised by the resident. They are investigating over the next few days.”

Dorset Police said they could not find reports of the tree damage on their records.