Marlborough plants 5,000 Trees in the London Borough of Hackney

Hackney 5,000
August 30, 2022

Marlborough plants 5,000 Trees in the London Borough of Hackney

  • By Marlborough Highways

Marlborough Highways is delighted to announce that it has reached its target of planting 5,000 new street trees in the London Borough of Hackney. The initiative is one of the largest schemes of its type in the country and forms part of Hackney Council’s ongoing commitment to making the north London borough a greener and cleaner place to live and work. The project also included 1,000 new trees and 30,000 saplings in parks and green spaces across Hackney, helping to create more attractive urban environments, while improving air-quality.

In line with Hackney Council’s environmental strategy of reaching Net Zero emissions by 2040, planners set the ambitious goal of planting thousands of trees throughout the borough in just two years. As Hackney Council’s principal highways contractor, Marlborough worked with the council team in partnership with the distinguished tree suppliers Barcham, to project manage the programme, sourcing more than 80 varieties of native and non-native species.

The substantial programme of works required a complex schedule, involving storage, transportation, ground preparation and planting, with specialist botanical knowledge vital to ensuring that the right trees were chosen for the right settings. At the peak of the scheme, Marlborough was planting up to 200 trees per week, with individual trees typically ranging from three to five metres in height. The initiative sees street tree canopy coverage in the London Borough of Hackney increase from 20% to 30%, and it is helping to reduce the risk of flooding through better street drainage. Marlborough is now tasked with the maintenance and upkeep of the 5,000 trees, with a specialist team monitoring their development in the months ahead.

Matthew Revell, Managing Director of Marlborough Highways said, “We are proud to have managed such an important scheme in partnership with our friends at Hackney Council and at Barcham Trees. As well as providing shelter and shade, and improving the appearance of the city landscape, the new trees are helping to reduce pollution and are encouraging local people to reconnect with nature. I am looking forward to seeing the streets of Hackney blossom as the trees grow and mature.”

“One of the things I value most is their very collaborative and transparent team culture. It makes a big difference to have a contractor that wants to work closely with us and is supportive and responsive. With Marlborough, I get a team who are attentive, work collaboratively and honestly with me and don’t lose focus on delivering first class communications and compliance.”
Carly Norris, Project Manager Operations, Hackney Council
“From the design stage, Marlborough has been fundamental in delivering the Broad Lane Square improvements scheme. During the works, not only did the team manage to keep to the programme, but they went the extra mile to ensure attention to detail and came up with innovative solutions to address issues encountered on site. My thanks on behalf of Haringey goes out to Marlborough for their dedication to deliver.”
Dana Rasheed, Project Manager, Haringey Council
“Working alongside our Term Service Contractor Marlborough Highways, we successfully completed renovations to the Crowstone Footbridge. The designs were provided by Marlborough, and the work was unique. The scheme was completed to budget and ahead of its programme duration.”
Neil Handley, Senior Engineer, Southend-on-Sea City Council
“I would like to thank you and your team for your efforts, the Marlborough crews were professional, courteous, and hard working all day and ensured the event went without a hitch. You and the team were a credit to the company, demonstrating commitment and support to the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.”
Nick Davies, Specialist Services Manager, Barking and Dagenham Council
“I just wanted to say what a pleasure it has been to work with Marlborough Highways over the last six months. The quality of work is superb, and there has been some excellent collaboration between Milestone and Marlborough to complete, what at times, has been quite a challenging scheme. I hope to work with Marlborough on another project in the near future.”
Colin Hill, Schemes Manager, Milestone Infrastructure
“Marlborough worked with us in constructing a 1.3km cycle track. There were a number of technical difficulties to overcome, and their gifted foreman worked to propose some innovative solutions to the challenges we faced. The result is a facility that the locals are proud of, providing walkers and cyclists with alternative access to the hospital and nearby school. The scheme was a lot of hard work, but well worth it.”
Rob Venables, NEC Project Manager, Essex County Council
“Marlborough attracts people who take care and have pride in their work. Several gangs of Operatives worked tirelessly for six months to reconstruct drainage networks, lay more than 3km of high quality bespoke granite kerbs and granite channels blocks to ensure positive drainage. The technical compliance, attention to detail and level of quality finish along the entire carriageway was exceptional”.
Mark Chiverrell, Technical Director, Project Centre
“We saw huge benefits in appointing Marlborough as our full service contractor and we’re impressed – they’ve delivered consistent high quality service and superior quality control across every project. Marlborough, provide us with a ‘one-stop’ shop solution – we get the same quality of service and better control across all aspects of the project.”
Darren Bryant, Principal Engineer, Enfield Council

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