He has stressed the decision was taken in good faith by a member of the team at the M&B-owned pub to protect the public.
In the letter he said: “Clearly the felling of a beautiful old tree is a very emotive subject and is not something that any of us would undertake lightly. I can only apologise for all the upset that it has caused.”
The company has already revealed the tree was cut back after they were advised by its specialist arboriculture contractors that it caused a potential health and safety risk.
Exceptional circumstance
Urban highlighted that where expert advice warns of a direct risk to life or serious injury they are obliged to act and the company allows for such work to be fast-tracked and bypass any bureaucracy, to ensure corrective action is taken swiftly.
Urban said: “However, I would totally accept that this was an exceptional circumstance, and as part of our review, we have already concluded that we need to tighten our protocols to ensure that were something like this to ever happen again, we could still protect our guests, team members and/or general wider public from harm, but have time for a fuller consultation.”
He also said some members of the public had alerted him to some “distasteful social media” comments on the incident which claimed to be from the Toby Carvery manager. He said this person does not work for M&B and confirmed it was an “unfortunate” example of social media trolling.
However, the controversial story has taken a new turn as M&B leases the land from Enfield Council, which has now said it is considering legal action.
Outraged
Councillor Ergin Erbil, leader of Enfield Council, said he was “outraged” the tree had been cut down without the company seeking any permissions or advice.
“We have evidence that this tree was alive and starting to grow new spring leaves when this action was taken. Our team of experts checked the tree in December 2024 and found it was healthy and posed no risk to the neighbouring car park and its users,” he said.
“The police are treating it as a civil matter but we will continue to take appropriate legal action.”
Enfield Council has suggested the company has broken the terms of its lease, which requires Toby Carvery to maintain and protect the existing landscape.
“This tree would have been home to countless wildlife, fungi, and pollinators. This tree is a part of our ecological and cultural heritage,” Erbil added.
