The most significant event that council highways department has dealt with since 1988
16:32, 15 Jan 2026
The true tragedy of just how many trees have come down across Cornwall as a result of Storm Goretti may never be known.
That was what a Cornwall Council committee meeting heard today (Thursday, January 15) as members discussed the aftermath of last week's violent storm.
A meeting of Cornwall Council's community wellbeing scrutiny committee heard that there will be a multi-agency debrief next week to look at how the storm response was handled and where any improvements can be made.
Cllr Thalia Marrington, cabinet member for community safety and public health, said that a whole system response was in operation before, during and after Storm Goretti and a major incident declaration would not in itself have changed any statutory responsibilities or provided access to emergency government funding.
During discussion, councillors mentioned the huge number of trees that came down during the storm or will now have to be felled for safety reasons. No-one currently knows just how many trees Cornwall has lost but it looks to be in the thousands.
Cllr Loic Rich (Truro Tregolls, Independent) said the council's environment team can't currently provide a rough idea of how many trees have come down across Cornwall in total. "We might never know. It's tragic."
Committee chair Cllr Andrew Mitchell (St Ives West & Towednack, Independent) said he's never seen so many trees come down in his lifetime.
Many that are still standing will have to be felled because they will now be unsafe. It should definitely be at the top of our agenda to make sure that a replacement programme continues," he added.
Cllr James Mustoe (Mevagissey & St Austell Bay, Conservative) added that a highways officer had told him on Monday that 2,000 trees had come down at that point. "I'm sure there are many more that haven't been reported. He said it was the most significant event they've had to deal with since 1988."
Over 100 trees came down on St Michael's Mount alone, with another 100 at Truro Golf Club.