Newcastle City Council says it is committing £100,000 for tree planting, following a newspaper investigation that shows Newcastle has become the tree-felling capital of the UK.

A Sunday Times Freedom of Information request (FoI) revealed that more than 110,000 trees have been felled by councils across the UK since 2015. In Newcastle, 8,414 trees have been felled over the last three years, including 830 that have been removed for private customers. By way of comparison, the city of Belfast felled the least number of trees during the same period: 3,213.

Newcastle-based bird photographer Dylan Burgess, who takes many of his photographs in the woods of Jesmond Dene, told JesmondLocal: “It’s shocking that Newcastle is top of this list. It would seem that non-essential development and financial reasons are more of a priority to the council than environmental and health issues. I fully understand that some management of trees is required, but wholesale felling on this sort of scale is shocking. There are petitions regarding what is happening in Sheffield. Maybe these numbers need to be brought to the attention of Newcastle residents.”

However, according to the council, the trees felled represent just 0.35% of the city’s stock per annum and there are currently 7,000 trees with protection orders (TPOs). The council says it only fells trees if they are deemed to be dead, diseased or dangerous. Other reasons include removing trees for thinning-out plantations, or where they have self-seeded. For recording and reporting purposes the council’s definition of a tree ranges from a self-seeded specimen from 75mm in diameter at breast height (DBH) to an established mature tree.

The council says felling trees may also be essential to deliver highways infrastructure improvements, housing and commercial developments, but in this instance it has a policy of replacing the trees.

A Newcastle City Council spokesperson told JesmondLocal: “Our tree population is estimated to be circa 800,000 across Newcastle. When trees are removed, the council plants at least one more, typically following a two-for-one replanting programme, though this is often exceeded. At the Killingworth Road project, for example, some 500 trees and shrubs were removed but around 2,400 will be replanted.”

The spokesperson added that the council has committed £100,000 for further tree planting in advance of a forthcoming tree strategy. “The strategy will reinforce the importance of our tree population and its protection throughout Newcastle, as trees have a prominent function in our great green city.”