Council revises controversial Armada Way plans
A petition against plans to fell mature trees has been signed 10,000 times
Plymouth City Council's unveiled revised plans for its controversial redevelopment of Armada Way.
Opponents to the plans say more than 130 mature trees would have to be felled as part of the project - a petition against it has been signed more than 10,000 times.
The council says its revised plans will now see 24 trees retained, along with 150 new semi-mature trees being brought in.
It says that will the total of trees in the Armada Way scheme to 174, with most of the new trees being between six to eight metres tall.
An extra seven existing trees will be retained including four cockspur thorns, two wild cherry trees and a Swedish whitebeam.
Cabinet Member for Transport, Councillor Jonathan Drean said: “We have tried to take on board the wishes of the campaigners and have incorporated more existing trees as well as new trees.
“But this scheme has to be about so much more than trees. It is about changing a tired street into somewhere people want to go, where there are things for families to do and a much more attractive – and much needed – new look for the city centre.
“City centre businesses have been crying out for this investment. We have received strong representations from the City Centre Company and many local businesses asking us to support the delivery of the original scheme.
“Ultimately I have to balance a number of different views and opinions on the best way forward, including the sustainable transport outcomes I am responsible for delivering under the Transforming Cities Fund programme.
“How Armada Way looks at the moment is hardly inspiring to future investors in our city. It is not a safe and welcoming environment. We want and need this scheme to happen because we know that we have to re-imagine how our city centre works in the future as it will face many economic challenges in the coming years that we have to act upon.”
"I genuinely understand the concerns"
He added: “I genuinely understand the concerns expressed about the removal of the existing trees, which is why I paused the scheme and asked for these concerns to be considered again, even though we had already started work.
“I personally asked that we look carefully at the opportunity to translocate some of the trees. As I said before, I am not a tree expert, and all the advice I have received, including from the project tree experts, the Council’s own Natural Infrastructure Team and the Woodland Trust was that this was simply not advisable.
“I am disappointed by that, but ultimately I have to follow that specialist advice I am given. Translocating the trees would have cost over £50,000 and I was told a very large number would be likely to die. I have reluctantly, therefore, decided not to include this within the final design that we are publishing today.”