A BOURNEMOUTH tree felling company has been using a bizarre but sustainable technique to complete a job on Dorset’s seafront.

Apex Tree Surgeons used a 393ft zip wire to transport trees from the cliffs to the sand at Canford Cliffs beach. 

Around 25 trees which were at risk of falling after recent storms were commissioned to be felled by Natural England to make way to replantation.

Bournemouth Echo:

Apex Tree Surgeons specialise in all types of tree issues for homeowners, businesses, and local government authorities across Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire.

Martin Saxon, the company's director, said: “We've got quite a bit of interest on it which we weren't overly expecting.

“But we took down some of the large trees on the cliff base and we ziplined them down to the beach.

“What we're doing now is we're now regenerating that area with new seeds and smaller planting and putting biochar into the cliff face to help hold that together and encourage new regrowth.

“The zip line is the most effective way of getting the tree down to the cliff face without doing any damage."

Bournemouth Echo:

Martin added: “In an ideal world, we probably would have come in from the top with a large capacity crane and then lifted the trees up and craned them up and out that way.

“But we couldn’t get access to the cliff face and any heavy plant on this corner on the cliff face is always going to potentially undermine the cliff.

“We decided we couldn't fell the trees on the cliff base itself, because we've got flora, we've got sand lizards, and we've also got the existing stability of the bank to take into consideration.

“So traditionally, tree felling was not going to be an option open to us, so we had to think quickly on another way to do it.

Martin also spoke about the sustainable approach to the job. He said: “The amount of carbon we inject back into the ground offsets the works that we complete so we're totally carbon neutral.”