A14 upgrade: Large portion of trees planted 'have died off' report says

A "large proportion" of the nearly one million trees planted as part of the A14 upgrade in Cambridgeshire have died, a council report has said.

The tree planting was part of the £1.5 billion roadworks scheme on the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon.

Highways England said it removed around 400,000 trees and shrubs for the project and then replanted 866,000 trees.

The new trees were a range of native species, and replaced the old trees at a rate of two to one, the agency said.

But a report for Cambridgeshire County Council's highways and transport committee next week said, "Whilst there has been one million trees planted as part of the scheme, a large proportion have died off.

Those trees were being replanted by Highways England's contractor, the report said.

"It is important to ensure that these planted areas are successful as they provide significant environmental benefits for the scheme and local area", the report went on.

Highways England was responsible for the planting and monitoring for a five-year period.

The Agency has said that for every plant that has "failed" it would be planting a new indigenous species.

A spokesperson for the agency said, "We delivered the new A14 to the highest environmental standards, and this included how we work when planting across our schemes. As part of any scheme, we regularly monitor how successful planting has been with an experienced and qualified ecologist.

The highways agency said the work on the A14 operates under a "permit to clear" system, meaning any vegetation is checked by an experienced and qualified ecologist before it is removed.