As we fast approach the long awaited court hearing at the end of this month, WWAG Committee members want to bring local residents up to speed with the preparations for the Court hearing. Wellingborough Walks Action Group Ltd (WWAG) will be in the High Court on the 30th of April and the 1st of May 2024, as we look to present our judicial review claim against North Northants Council (NNC), following NNCs decision last year (Feb 2023) to allow the felling of 16 healthy protected trees from THE WALKS on London Road in Wellingborough.
As well as the loss of these protected trees from this historic avenue, which stretches from the centre of town to the river, 45 other protected lime trees on THE WALKS are still under threat as a result of plans by Stanton Cross Developments to expand the London Road roundabout as part of the development of Route 2, which will connect Stanton Cross to the A45 junction at Turnmills Lane. WWAG Directors, Marion Turner-Hawes and Lucy Hennessy, say preparations for the court case are well in hand and there is a great deal of hard working going on in the background to get everything ready for the hearing. Presently, final papers are being submitted and shared, and we expect to meet with our legal team next week to prepare for our days in court.
Marion and Lucy said, everybody has worked so hard to make this possible, and the Committee would like to say a massive THANK YOU to the whole community for the amazing support and contributions we have received to help us save the trees on this vital community asset, which is such an important part of the town’s heritage, as well as being a vital natural resource for our community. Over the period since the felling last year, we have raised nearly £70,000. People from our town and beyond have been absolutely amazing, so kind and so generous, and we are grateful beyond words.
We are now within touching distance of our overall £30,000 target for the court case, and we have just £700 still to raise. Marion and Lucy said the committee have been so overwhelmed and delighted with the response from our community, and people, businesses, local organisations, clubs, and groups have all contributed to help save the trees on THE WALKS. It has been an amazing community effort and really shows what can be achieved when we, the people of Wellingborough, put our hearts and minds together to safeguard what is important to us.
The judicial review court hearing will take a day and a half, with the process starting on Tuesday 30th April, just under two weeks from now. We don’t expect a result at the end of the hearing, as the judge will take some time to consider all the submissions and make their decision. It could be a month or more before we hear the final judgement.
To help us raise the final funds we have organised another fundraising Quiz Night on Friday 26th April starting at 7 pm. This will be held at St Andrews Church Hall, Berrymore, Kingsway, Wellingborough. We have a few tickets left so please come and join us and enjoy a great evening. Tickets cost £10 and hot jacket potato meal with lots of trimmings will be provided within this. To book your tickets please go to our website and please select the QUIZ NIGHT tab.
We always have a great night so come and join in. If you haven’t managed to come along before it will be great to see you this time.
We are also mindful that not many people will be able to make it to the court on the 30th April to witness the court hearing, so we have applied for online access to be made available, however we won’t know if this has been successful until sometime next week. If you could keep an eye on the group’s website, we will be putting more details on there or on our Facebook page.
The website address is www.saveourtrees.co.uk And you can also go on the website to buy tickets for the quiz night on the 26th April 2024.
Finally, we are also inviting members from the community to join us at the Trees on Sunday, the 28th April at 3pm, a few days before our court hearing, to mark this momentous occasion. Supporters are encouraged to join us at the embankment car park where we will update them about the present situation and also reconnect with the trees and our supporters before we go off to our court hearing a few days later. Please come and join us if you can, it will be fantastic to see you and to remind the community that we are still working hard to SAVE OUR TREES.
Finally, Marion and Lucy, wish to thank our wonderful legal team who are skilfully guiding us in this process, and of course, all the committee members who, in many ways have put their lives on hold to stand up for our community and save the trees. We honour and cherish your contribution.
For the people that are planning to travel down to London on the 30th April, there will be details on our website about some of the easiest ways to do that. Many of us will be travelling to Bedford station and going by train to central London from there. Keep an eye on the website for information about travelling to Bedford station, which we are hoping to be able to organise. If you have any questions please get in touch via the website or our Facebook page.
Best wishes and thank you
Lucy Hennessy and Marion Turner-Hawes
Directors, Wellingborough Walks Action Group Ltd