Glendale wins £1.3m arboriculture contract to keep Harrow green

National green services company, Glendale, has been awarded a three-year contract with Harrow Borough Council providing arboriculture services which includes planting more than 1,800 new trees in the borough.

The £1.3million contract will also create two job opportunities for young people through the introduction of an apprenticeship scheme, and nine full-time arborist positions.

Glendale will bring trees in Harrow up to the required standard and protect, improve and sustain the tree population.  It will plant an additional 600 trees per year on behalf of the council and will be on call for arboriculture emergencies – including pruning and felling– for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Glendale will also be working with local schools to offer a minimum of four work placements each year to introduce young people to arboriculture.

John McKenna, Glendale’s operations manager for London and the South East, said: “Harrow is fortunate enough to have a significant amount of mature trees, which are the legacy left by previous generations. The trees make a significant contribution to the quality of public health in the local area and shape the character of the borough, but they need constant care and a high level of expertise to ensure they can continue to be enjoyed by future generations.

“We plan to move away from the historical system of varied, reactive tree work and instead implement a programme of planned, cyclical maintenance created in conjunction with the council.

“We’re also looking forward to working with schools in the area to help young people discover arboriculture as a potential career path. Attracting young people into the industry is something we’re very passionate about and our local apprenticeship programme will create career opportunities.”

Glendale will carry out the work in parks and open spaces, as well as on highways, housing estates, and around public buildings across the borough.  There are around 300,000 trees in Harrow, including 18,000 highway trees and 60,000 trees in council-run open spaces.

The rest of the trees are spread across 253 acres of countryside.  Councillor Varsha Parmar, Environment, crime and community safety councillor, said: “There are over six million visits to our parks and open spaces across the borough each year. This contract will improve the local environment through the planting of additional trees and the health of our tree stock will also be improved. The health of local residents is important to us and by managing our stock more people will enjoy these spaces.

“The new contract will also create two new apprenticeships for the young people in the area and bring in additional revenue to the local economy. As a council, we are committed to creating more opportunities for the young people in the borough. This is the first stage in this process and we will also be announcing a number of new apprenticeships shortly.”

The contract will be delivered from Glendale’s Arboriculture Association approved depot, The London Tree Centre in Watford, and will commence December 1, 2014.