Residents beg local authority to 'stop the chop' of lime trees
Flowers are being left in a Cornish street as a sign of respect by campaigners
Flowers are being left in a Cornish street as a sign of respect by campaigners and residents who are angry that Cornwall Council is planning to chop down three healthy lime trees in Falmouth on Monday morning. The local authority says it appreciates the strong local feeling but it has a duty to ensure the trees aren’t a potential hazard to pedestrians, traffic and nearby houses.
Despite residents forming a campaign called Stop the Chop!, the council is still planning to go ahead with its controversial proposals to fell the 60-year-old trees which are within the town’s conservation area on Trelawney Road. The campaigners believe that as they are not dead, dying or posing an imminent risk, they should be protected under law.
Residents stopped the council chopping the trees down in December and since then members of Stop the Chop! have been asking the local authority to explain the grounds for such drastic action. They say they have received “slow, limited and opaque replies”, with the council telling the campaigners last week that there is an “overriding legal imperative” for the works to proceed.
The council has said it will plant four new trees on the street in “specialist tree pits placed in purpose-built islands”.
Cornwall councillor Laurie Magowan, who represents Falmouth’s Arwenack division, told us: “I have been working closely with senior officers and the portfolio holder to share the concerns of local residents, who are understandably upset and angry about the replacement of these mature trees.
“A key issue is the proportionality of the action being taken versus the current or potential impact of the trees in question. Despite raising these concerns in a series of meetings, and the presentation of a community petition, I’m disappointed that Cornwall Council, as the decision-making body, is continuing with the decision to replace these trees.”
Last week the Mayor of Falmouth, Alan Rowe, wrote to Cornwall Council’s highways wing saying: “I cannot express strongly enough that I do not want to see any inference in the future to Falmouth Town Council’s complicity in this (decision to fell the trees) as we were not given the information required to make a complete determination.”
Debs Newman, a resident and Stop the Chop! campaigner, said: “It is evident that the way Cornwall Council has handled the matter of the Trelawney Road trees has been in stark contrast to its own governance policy. Its consultation and decision-making processes have fallen well short of those required and we are asking them to be open and honest with the public.
“In spite of this opposition, Cornwall Council seems determined to press on, but will not reveal the exact nature of the legal reason they claim is forcing their hand.”
Campaigners submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request regarding the Exception Notice placed on the three trees by Cornwall Council in March 2024 but were told on Wednesday that “this information should be withheld from you”.
Ms Newman added: “To add to our concerns, we know that the council has placed Exception Notices on all of the trees up and down Trelawney Road, not just these three. We are really worried that what happened in Sheffield and Plymouth could happen here in Falmouth.”
She was referring to controversial moves by those city’s councils to fell numerous trees in the city centres to much local anger.
The campaigners are doing everything they can to get the council to stop the works before Monday. Ms Newman said: “At the moment the council is determined to fell these beautiful trees. They are even going to do this three weeks into the bird nesting season, which starts from March 1 according to their own literature. We want the council to stop the works and review the matter properly with due process.
“When the trees are gone, they’re gone. Over 60 years of life gone. It’s so sad. I’m going to pay my respects to these great, old trees on Monday at 7.30am and I expect that other people may want to do the same.”
A council spokesperson said: “We can appreciate the strong feeling generated by this decision – we seek to retain all trees wherever possible and their removal is very much a last resort. However, under the Highways Act we have legal duty to ensure that trees growing on footpaths and within the public highway do not pose a potential hazard to pedestrians, traffic and nearby properties.
“We have reviewed alternative measures such as root removal and root barriers, but unfortunately these works cannot be undertaken without compromising the health and integrity of the trees as well as creating further hazard to members of the public.
“Following consultation with local residents, Cornwall councillors and stakeholders including Falmouth Town Council, we will replace the trees with four trees planted in specialist tree pits placed in purpose-built islands between the existing parking areas.”