Plymouth tree decision "not how democracy works"

Outrage continues

The decision to fell over 100 trees on Tuesday night is “a tragedy.”

This is the view of Cllr Julian Brazil – leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition at Devon County Council – who feels that the regeneration scheme in Plymouth should not have involved the removal of the trees.

Plymouth is outside the Devon County Council area, and is responsible for its own planning decisions.

Following objections last month, Plymouth City Council paused work to remove the trees ahead of regernation of Armada Way for a short public consultation.

But the council’s Conservative leader Richard Bingley used his executive power to controversially resume the project earlier this week. Work began under the cover of darkness, with the only publicity being an announcement added to the city council’s website.

Contractors felled more than of the trees before campaigners obtained a High Court injunction in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Only around a dozen trees survive the cull.

Cllr Brazil said the executive order signed by Cllr Bingley is “not how democracy should work.”

“It seems rather perverse that they then pressed ahead with this wonton destruction of mature trees in order to create something that actually the people of Plymouth don’t really want,” he added on Devoncast, a weekly podcast from Radio Exe.

“My own view is I think it’s a tragedy that these mature trees have been cut down and they should have come up with a scheme that somehow encompassed those trees that were there already.”

However, the council says the trees will be replaced eventually by 169 new ones – 150 of which will be semi-mature. Leader of the Conservative opposition in East Devon, Cllr Philip Skinner, understands the council’s urgency in pressing on with its regeneration works, and feels its plans mitigate the initial loss of trees.

“If you’re talking about a regeneration scheme – and they’re looking to replant these trees into others areas –  if there’s betterment into the way that they’re going, obviously it’s the business of Plymouth City Council to go about their business as they see fit,” he said.

“If you do put out [a consultation] asking people what their views are, there would be many, many people that would have been anti-taking the trees down. And the general principle I’m pretty sure would be that we all agree that we don’t want to take the trees down, but this is a scheme that is obviously quite important to Plymouth.

“It appears on the face of it that they’re more than replanting the trees in a different way, in a different area going forward.”

In January, a petition to prevent the works was signed by more than 12,000 people, although Plymouth City Council only recognised 5,000 of them.