A Bolton woman is calling for a tree outside her home to be felled saying it is causing flooding.
Elizabeth Pearce has lived in her home on Springfield Gardens, Kearsley, for nine years.
The 77-year-old said that she ‘loves trees’, but that the tree is ‘too close’ to her home, and that it has caused flooding on two occasions – leaving her home without running water in February and May.
United Utilities said that tree roots have caused an issue with the water main.
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Despite asking for her housing agency, Bolton at Home, to remove the tree, Elizabeth has been told it will be staying as it is ‘healthy’.
Elizabeth said: “I’m sat in the dark, I have to have a light on 24/7, and I have to heating on when other people don’t because the tree is so big, it’s keeping me in the dark.
“The tree is obviously more important than me.”
She added: “They’ve been putting other pipes in, but it just moves further along each time – it’s lifting the paths up, the roots of the tree, it’s a sycamore and it’s massive, and it’s just keeping all light out of here.
“I keep my bungalow as nice as possible, I look after things, and I am very upset because I like living on here, because of the people – we have a community centre – but the tree is the bane of my life.
“People in the community centre said they would sign a petition if need be to have the tree taken down.”
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A spokesperson for Bolton at Home, said: “Under our arboriculture policy, we only remove trees if they’re dead, diseased, or pose a safety risk.
“We don’t remove a healthy tree unless it’s interfering with property.
“We inspect trees on our estates every three years to ensure they’re safe for residents. This tree is due for an inspection this year. Given the recent concerns raised, we’ll prioritise this inspection to ascertain whether the roots are contributing to pipe bursts as we haven’t received confirmation of this.
“A qualified arboriculturist will carry out the inspection.
“Once we have the results, we’ll discuss the next steps and determine any appropriate action based on the findings.”
A United Utilities spokesperson said: “Our engineering teams attended to repair the water main on two occasions and properties were without water for 90 minutes on the first occasion and just over two hours the second time.
“The tree roots are very close to the water main which was the cause of the failure.”
If you have a story, I cover the whole borough of Bolton. Please get in touch at jack.fifield@newsquest.co.uk.
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