We’ve lost an entire forest after National Highways made a blunder on the A14

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Over half a million trees that were planted on the upgraded A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon have died. The National Highways planted 850,000 saplings part of the upgrade of the A14 from Cambridge to Huntingdon that opened in 2020. See SWNS story SWBNtrees. More than half a million trees have died on a 21-mile-long stretch of road in a massive blunder by National Highways bosses, it emerged today. The trees died because of 'poor soil' and 'extreme heat,' according to an internal report by the agency which is responsible for nation's main roads. They were among 850,000 saplings planted along the A14 in Cambridgeshire as part of ??1.5bn upgrade. National Highways had previously felled 400,000 trees and shrubs as part of the development.
All that is left alongside the carriageway are rows of plastic tree protection tubes (Picture: SWNS)

More than 637,000 trees have died within three years of being planted because of a huge National Highways blunder, it has been revealed. 

A total of 850,000 saplings were planted along the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon in 2020.  

Three-quarters of them have since perished because of ‘poor soil’ and ‘extreme heat’, the company claimed on Tuesday.

The data was collected before last year’s record heatwave – so the real numbers may be even more staggering.

The public body was planning to use the new forest as a replacement for the 400,000 trees and shrubs it felled during a £1.5 billion upgrade.   

To get permission for the works, the organisation had to come up with a way to offset the destroyed habitats and carbon emissions from the road.  

But the new carriageway is now just full of plastic tree protection tubes, filled with grass and dead twigs.  

Over half a million trees that were planted on the upgraded A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon have died. The National Highways planted 850,000 saplings part of the upgrade of the A14 from Cambridge to Huntingdon that opened in 2020. See SWNS story SWBNtrees. More than half a million trees have died on a 21-mile-long stretch of road in a massive blunder by National Highways bosses, it emerged today. The trees died because of 'poor soil' and 'extreme heat,' according to an internal report by the agency which is responsible for nation's main roads. They were among 850,000 saplings planted along the A14 in Cambridgeshire as part of ??1.5bn upgrade. National Highways had previously felled 400,000 trees and shrubs as part of the development.
Three-quarters of the 850,000 saplings planted in 2020 have since died (Picture: SWNS)

National Highways has come up with a replanting scheme to fix its mistake but it will cost the taxpayer another £2.9 million 

It plans to replant 162,000 trees along the A14 following a survey and analysing soil samples to determine what went wrong.

This time, the replanted trees will use mulch, better tree guards and topsoil with more appropriate types and ages of trees. 

But there are worries this scheme will not work either. Only 50% of replanted trees survive after five years, a study from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology suggests.  

Councillor Edna Murphy, who has been campaigning for the agency to take responsibility for the last two years, said this is ‘a new approach’.

She added: ‘We need to make sure they deliver.  It’s potentially a huge issue as this is a national problem – National Highways is engaged in many projects in England.  

‘We need to plant trees as part of meeting our national climate targets.’  

Over half a million trees that were planted on the upgraded A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon have died. The National Highways planted 850,000 saplings part of the upgrade of the A14 from Cambridge to Huntingdon that opened in 2020. See SWNS story SWBNtrees. More than half a million trees have died on a 21-mile-long stretch of road in a massive blunder by National Highways bosses, it emerged today. The trees died because of 'poor soil' and 'extreme heat,' according to an internal report by the agency which is responsible for nation's main roads. They were among 850,000 saplings planted along the A14 in Cambridgeshire as part of ??1.5bn upgrade. National Highways had previously felled 400,000 trees and shrubs as part of the development.
The trees were supposed to offset the destroyed habitats and carbon emissions from the road (Picture: SWNS)

Councillor Murphy also complained about how difficult it was to get data from National Highways, calling it the ‘devil’s own job’.  

‘I tried the Freedom of Information Act, I tried asking nicely, nothing worked,’ she said.

‘The scale of it really hits you if you go up and down the A14, hundreds of thousands of trees, saplings planted and have just been left to die.’

National Highways said the failed trees were an ‘unusually high failure rate among the planted trees’.    

Project manager Martin Edwards said: ‘We take our responsibility to the local environment seriously.  

‘What in mind we’re pleased to be in a position where we have a clear route ahead for the replanting of trees on the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme.  

‘This approach will result in planting the optimum species of tree, in the right areas, with tree planting set to begin in October.’ 

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