Fancy showing your support for the SAVE OUR TREES campaign, well now you can! Our t-shirts are made from organic cotton and printed in the UK in a renewable energy powered factory, plus we have a selection of other fun items made from reused or recycled things! Wear your support, display a poster, all donations go towards our legal fund…
At our online shop, you can order our rather fetching t-shirts, all in organic cotton in men’s, women’s or kid’s sizes. Men’s and women’s are £20 plus postage and packaging, Kid’s t-shirts are £14, plus whilst you are there we have matching tote bags too at £15. Facilitated by Teemill, everything is made to order to save waste.
We have handmade lime leaf keyrings at £5 each, lime leaf earrings £10 a pair, and bags handmade out of jeans at £40. These are made by a local artist, The Pagan Crafter, and are available from ECO HUB Glamis Hall or by using the form below.
Our eco-friendly wristbands (pictures show both sides) and A3 or A4 posters are also available at ECO HUB or by using the form below, and these are available for a donations to the campaign. Please fill in the form below and we will get back to you:
Card donations can be taken online by clicking the button above. We can also accept donations over the telephone or in person with a credit card or debit card, or in cash. See our Donations page for all options.
Thank you for your support!
SAVE OUR TREES – Council agree to protect TPO trees
Save Our Trees campaigners have won a tree protection planning policy at North Northamptonshire Council last night for all trees with Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) on them when subject to all future planning developments across North Northamptonshire. This is too late for the limes on The Walks, although Vistry were invited to resubmit plans for the London Road trees to the council, with one councillor recommending that they waive the charge.
The above video is from the Northants Telegraph, see Alison’s report on their website.
Before the motion was heard, protesters who had welcomed councillors with placards and chanting, then packed out the public gallery as residents addressed the meeting. 59 councillors voted yes to the motion, with one notable abstention, a councillor from Wellingborough who looked very much like he couldn’t be bothered all night. But forgetting Graham Lawman, all of the other councillors voted for greater scrutiny to protect TPO trees when looking at planning.
The council voted in favour of the following motion:
“North Northamptonshire has a rich heritage in both buildings and the
natural world. Among our assets are the parks and gardens which
belonged to the former sovereign councils; there are conservation areas
where planning rules are rigorous and aim to maintain the historic hearts
of our towns and villages; tree preservation orders that can be applied to
individual or groups of trees which have stood by our roadsides and in
gardens and parks for many years. All of these features together help us,
as a council to make decisions that are of benefit to the communities that
reside here.North Northamptonshire Council has firmly grasped the desire to be
carbon neutral by 2030 and the council’s vision that acknowledges the
importance of the natural world on carbon capture, flood defences, wildlife
habitat and the health and wellbeing of its residents.
North Northamptonshire is also an area of growth and development which
will benefit the people who live here, and getting the balance between the
two, heritage and growth, can be fraught with difficulties.One of those difficulties is evident in the way that 61 mature lime trees
were due to be felled earlier this month on The Walks in Wellingborough
to make way for a four-line road leading from the A509 to Stanton Walk
SUE, and to move the utilities associated with the works. Following the
protests of local residents, NNC negotiated a pause in the work to allow
for an information event to be held by The Vistry Group, but those trees
are still under threat unless, we use our authority to stop this senseless
and unnecessary action and require the developers to find an alternative
way.Ensure that reports to planning committee on applications where the
Motion 1 – Proposed by Cllr Valerie Anslow and seconded by Cllr Anne
granting of planning permission would involve the removal of trees
protected by TPO(s) are supported by the advice of a suitably qualified
officer. Furthermore, such reports to contain specific information to
support decision makers to assess the weight considered appropriate by
the officer to be attached to this material consideration to ensure that any
resident or organisation relying on the system is treated equally and fairly,
and that all local historic and natural heritage sites within NN communities
are appropriately protected, while continuing the drive to provide homes
and jobs for the community.”
Lee
Here is the whole recording of the Full Council Meeting. To save you watching the entire four hours and forty minutes here is a timeline guide. Watch 11:30-24:45 for Wellingborough residents speakers. 32:45-38:30 for a question and answer by Cllr Jason Smithers. 327:30-418:30 for Motion 1, TPOs (as above)
Thank you all for your support!
SAVE OUR TREES – Four Month Reprieve
The lime trees on The Walks have been given a temporary stay of execution until midnight on July 31 after council leader Cllr Jason Smithers said he would not expect ‘the developer to undertake any works to the trees’. Cllr Smithers made this announcement as he released a string of documents showing the legal process that led to the start of works to fell up to 61 trees by developers Stanton Cross LLP. But as you can see this isn’t anything new, he’s just quoting planning documents as follows:
In terms of Bird Nesting Season: Condition 31 of the planning permission for the Stanton Cross SUE requires that no works to trees should be carried out by the developer during the UK bird nesting season. This period runs from the 1 March to the 31 July and as such, the Council would not expect the developer to undertake any works to the trees located at the Walks / London Road during this period. Nesting birds are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which is the responsibility of the Police to enforce.
Cllr Jason Smithers
Cllr Smithers added that Stanton Cross Developments LLP ‘benefit from a lawful exemption to the Tree Preservation Order that enables the removal of trees at the London Road / The Walks area in order to develop Route 2 of the Stanton Cross Sustainable Urban Extension’. So here’s hoping that Vistry/Bovis Homes/Stanton Cross LLP that they stick to that, and that they use that time to engage with North Northamptonshire Council to change their plans to fell all the lime trees south of the Tesco roundabout.
Cllr Smithers also added “The council understands that following the community engagement event, there remains some questions regarding the lawfulness of the works undertaken by the developer that were not fully addressed by the content of the developer’s event.” The roundabout design at London Road, which remains unchanged, clearly shows the approved design overlaid on the existing highway can be seen on the ‘Detailed Layout Plan’ below:
The removal of trees to the south of the roundabout is completely unnecessary to build this roundabout; they are being removed to facilitate the works, including strengthening a gas pipe. Campaigners at tonight’s Full Council meeting will make this point and many other in order to SAVE OUR TREES!
Find the newly released ‘missing’ documents and Cllr Smithers full statement on the North Northamptonshire Council’s website.
SAVE OUR TREES – Woodland Trust Response
The Woodland Trust is incredibly saddened by the felling of these valuable mature trees and their loss to the people of Wellingborough.
Over the past weeks we have made attempts to engage with the Council Leader and Chief Executive of North Northamptonshire Council, and will continue to do so. Unfortunately as the Woodland Trust is a non-statutory consultee we are limited in how we can intervene in direct cases. However, we recognise and are working hard to seek protections that will prevent the loss of highly valued trees like the Wellingborough Walk lime trees in future, including addressing the deficiencies in Tree Protection Orders. Our Chair, Baroness Young, recently put forward a series of amendments to the government’s Levelling Up & Regeneration Bill in the House of Lords to strengthen and improve how Tree Preservation Orders work. The objectives of the amendments are to:
- Embed existing good practice – eg in adopting a wider definition of ‘amenity’ and a proactive approach to protecting important trees.
- Enable TPOs to be used to protect the deadwood habitat of ancient and veteran trees, as this is super valuable for nature.
- To ensure TPO protection cannot be removed without good reason (uplift guidance into legislation)
- Support enforcement – by creating a single offence and hopefully removing the burden to prove harm will be fully destructive to access larger fines commensurate with potential profits
In the meantime, pressure and awareness raising from local residents is crucial to making decision makers aware of the strength of feeling and value of trees such as those in Wellingborough and will support our lobbying work – the strength of feeing for the protection of mature urban trees, as you have noted, is gaining widespread attention.
Sadly many local authorities lack appropriate resource and tree expertise, such as a dedicated tree officer, and this is something that we’d like to see urgently addressed, to ensure an expert voice for trees is embedded throughout decision making processes. We encourage residents to ask that their authority develop a Trees and Woodland Strategy to ensure trees are appropriately valued for the benefits they bring – and given the resources they deserve as a vital asset. There is more information available on this here: A Trees and Woodland Strategy Toolkit for Local Authorities (treecouncil.org.uk).
You may find the information from Trees for Streets helpful – they site research and evidence of the value of trees on consumer spending and health and wellbeing – Street Trees are worth their weight in gold – Trees for Streets
There are also many helpful resources on the Trees and Design Action Group website – Trees and Design Action Group – Home (tdag.org.uk) as well as the Arboricultural Association which has held webinars on the value of urban trees. These can be viewed here – Arboricultural Association – Webinars (trees.org.uk)
Thank you for suggesting an article in our next magazine, we will raise this with our Broadleaf team. We have written previously about the situation in Sheffield, and the need for lessons to be learnt across the UK.
We are sorry to hear of the anxiety you’ve been experiencing, we know that this is an experience of communities across the UK experiencing the loss of their valued trees. I would like to assure you that we will continue to fight for mature trees through our work to create change for a future where trees are truly valued.
With kind regards.
On behalf of the Campaigns Team
SAVE OUR TREES – North Northants Council Meeting
Wellingborough’s avenue of mature lime trees known as The Walks should have the same level of protection as historic buildings; preserved and maintained as “natural monuments” with so many benefits for local residents and the potential for more benefits for the local economy too. We believe that North Northamptonshire Council should be protecting our natural heritage, not allowing contractors to destroy it.
Wellingborough Walks has been damaged and fragmented by the developers behind Stanton Cross. 15 trees have been felled and that damage cannot be repaired. You cannot re-root mature trees. But the remaining trees can be saved. With the developers planning to cut down up to 30 more trees according to plans put forward at last week’s consultation event, Wellingborough residents say enough is enough.
On Thursday 30th March, North Northamptonshire Council are holing a full council meeting at Corby Cube, many of us from the Save Our Trees campaign are going and we want you to come too! The meeting starts at 6pm, but we are aiming to get there at 5pm to greet the councillors.
Corby is miles away, so instead of us all driving up there we are urging people to use public transport or car share. To facilitate this, if you need a lift or could offer someone a lift please fill in the form below:
For the agenda and other documents click here.
SAVE OUR TREES – Vistry Exhibition Leaves Questions Unanswered
In what was described as ‘one of the most farcical events that has been witnessed,’ by Alison Bagley, from the Northants Telegraph; the men in suits from ‘Stanton Cross’, i.e. Vistry Bovis Homes, bungled their way through what was a chaotic nonsensical exhibition. An event which one councillor was initially told they couldn’t enter, a ‘drop-in’ session that asked people to register for tickets that weren’t checked and where members of the press were told they could not ask questions, take photos or record video or audio of the public event.
For the first time since it emerged an avenue of much-loved Wellingborough trees was to be chopped down, last night residents came face-to-face with those responsible for putting the plans into action. This came about after sustained protests and defiance against the lime felling in London Road, the developer behind the £1bn housing estate, eventually agreed to a ‘pause’ in proceedings and to host this ‘public information exhibition’. But thoughts that there would be any meaningful engagement were dashed as only two of the eight of the pop-up banners dotted around the venue showed more detailed plans for the area that had previously sparked protests. And these two were identical!
With one member of staff per pop-up residents filled the Swanspool Pavilion – an appropriate location as the Wellingborough Walks starts on the other side of the road. A mass vocal show of support for the trees preceded the 6pm kick-off with upwards of 50 local residents baring placards chanting ‘save our trees!’. Many who had waited patiently in the pouring rain filed into the exhibition to grill Stanton Cross staff with a barrage of queries, only to be answered with they are carrying out North Northamptonshire Council’s wishes. Somewhere between 39 to 45 trees are to be felled, that up to 30 more to go and potentially all of the trees highlighted on the plan. They are planning to chop down the 9 where the gas mains crosses the road, sometime ‘before the next meeting’
Earlier in the day Wellingborough Town Councillors had been invited to a preview of the plans and sworn to secrecy. Cllr Marion Turner-Hawes, co-leader of Save Our Trees campaign, had been told by a member of Stanton Cross staff that her presence would be a conflict of interest. Another councillor intervened to prevent her being barred. She said: “I had every right to go in. It was very upsetting, it was very unpleasant and there was no need for it. At the end of the day it’s all about information. If the information we’ve been asking for as a community is provided and they prove what they are claiming, then the problem disappears. I don’t want the community to have to go to court but they should help to resolve the problem.”
Each person attending the event was given a feedback form to fill asking what planting enhancements they would like to see. Some attendees were horrified to see a second question asking how they would like to see ‘timber generated from clearance works repurposed’. Campaigner Martine Kinsgley, sporting a Save Our Trees T-shirt, said: “I looked at the banners but I haven’t talked to any of the people. The questionnaire is insulting – asking what we want to do with the timber.” Sarah Pearson who also attended said: “This exercise should have happened years ago. This is chaotic – it’s too little, too late. There’s a lot of angry people in this room.”
In this video, we take you down The Walks from Wellingborough School to The Embankment and tell you all about the trees, our SAVE OUR TREES campaign and about last night’s Community Consultation, then add a couple of scenes of destruction, a few protestors and the contractor’s plan; and then we take you back up The Walks from the River Nene to Wellingborough Town Centre, and tell you in in far greater detail about everything already said, plus what you can visit on the way. More feedback including from the developer can be found in the Northants Telegraph. Please do contribute to our Crowfunder for legal action if you can.
SAVE OUR TREES – Vistry Community Engagement
Wellingborough tree felling developers to host public exhibition on Thursday 23rd March, 6 pm to 8 pm at Swanspool Pavilion.
Vistry (Bovis Homes/Stanton Cross LLP) the £1 billion Wellingborough housing scheme developers that is behind the felling of the lime trees on The Walks, is inviting members of the public to an information exhibition drop-in. It will held on this Thursday (23rd March) at Swanspool Pavillion from 6pm-8pm. To attend, you need to register via Eventbrite and choose a 30 minute time slot.
The exhibition will look to provide local residents with more detail on the development which now has over 500 occupants. This will include plans for the new homes and infrastructure as part of the scheme, and updates will be available for the future programmes of work, including route 2, the remodelling of the Embankment/London Road roundabout that threatened 61 mature lime trees and saw some chopped down before works were eventually paused.
Members of the public will be able to view future plans and completed developments in Wellingborough to date. They anticipate that there will be a lot of interest in the exhibition, so members of the public are being asked to ensure they have an eligible ticket to be able to enter the venue.
It is being held at Swanspool Pavilion, a very small space and there will be very limited time slots. You can only book one ticket per time slot. You are not allowed to take any pictures of the materials being displayed. Register for the exhibition here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stanton-cross-public-information-exhibition-tickets-594548228757
A Director at Stanton Cross commented: “We’re looking forward to hosting this exhibition to help locals understand a bit more about the Stanton Cross development, our achievements to date and what the plans are for the future.”
Wellingborough Walks Action Group co-leader Marion Turner-Hawes said: “I welcome this event but it’s only two hours. They may need to give us more time. I hope there is an opportunity to ask questions – and get some answers.”
“I can see a number of people turning up and demonstrating outside, and people who have been inside demonstrating too. I think that’s very likely.” Do turn up, even if you don’t have a ticket, let Vistry know that they cannot get away with vandalising our town. This may be our only chance to be listened to, let’s make sure our voices are heard loud and clearly, SAVE OUR TREES!
SAVE OUR TREES – Crowdfund for Legal Action
Over the past couple of weeks our town came together to save these trees, and for that time we denied the developer the 61 trees they intended to fell, and caused a pause in the work, but we now want to save these trees permanently for future generations of our community to enjoy. To do this we need everyone’s help.
We believe the felling of these trees is unlawful as the trees are protected by a Tree Preservation Order from 2016. But the developer and North Northants Council have argued that the developer’s work is exempt from the TPO rules and that they can fell the trees legally. We have sought legal advice and we believe the exemption the developer is relying on does not apply and as a result the felling is unlawful and they are committing a criminal offence.
We see that the only way we can prove this is to take the case to court and seek an injunction to permanently stop the tree felling for good! This is what we plan to do and we need your help to raise the funds to do this. We aim to raise £12,000 to take the legal action we need to save the Wellingborough Walks trees, will you help us?
Please donate what you can, small or large, and let‘s show the developer and the local council that the people of our town are not prepared to stand by and see these trees and The Walks trashed in this appalling way; and that we are determined to SAVE OUR TREES and our natural heritage for countless generations to come. Thank you.
SAVE OUR TREES – New Row at Council
A new row at North Northamptonshire Council over the chopping down of trees has been sparked amid controversial plans to fell 61 trees to build a new dual carriageway – by adding an additional lane at the roundabout on the A509.
Greated by protestors from the Save Our Trees campaign outside the Corby Cube yesterday, members of the council said they were not told by developers Vistry of the true extent of the felling in Wellingborough until a site inspection on February 9 – just ten days before work was set to begin.
Despite protests from residents who argued that an active Tree Protection Order was in place, 15 were cut down before work was paused last Thursday March 2. The controversial felling is to allow access to the site of a new carriageway leading to the £1 billion Stanton Cross development.
100 Trees Destroyed in Plymouth
It comes after Plymouth Council sparked outrage by destroying more than 100 trees ‘like monsters in the night’ to make way for a £12.7 million project. Conservative-run Plymouth City Council suddenly gave the green light on Tuesday evening to remove more than a hundred trees following months of delay – despite facing heavy criticism over the plans.
Campaigners collected more than 12,000 signatures as part of a petition against removing the trees but the council pressed ahead, citing the need to create a ‘business friendly’ centre as part of a £12.7m regeneration. Protesters turned out in Plymouth city centre after contractors moved in to cut down the trees but were well outnumbered by police and security guards.
SAVE OUR TREES – Campaign Continues
The Save Our Trees campaign and Wellingborough Walks Action Group were launched by local residents last month, with hundreds of people protesting on the site of the tree felling, leading to six arrests. Members of the public were frustrated by North Northamptonshire Council and criticised the council for its ‘lack of response’ and called its actions ‘disgraceful’.
During the two weeks that local people battled with police and contractors, 15 trees were cut down before work was paused last Thursday 2nd March. Vistry Group then agreed to pause the felling until after they have held a public consultation with residents expected to take place this month. Work is expected to start again soon after the consultation.
There are still many unanswered questions. Residents were able to hold back the felling for some days, but some were arrested for aggravated trespass for refusing to move off the road when asked by Northamptonshire police, one was charged, Paul, but as yet has not been processed. North Northamptonshire Council has not put into the public domain any written evidence about permissions given to the developer to cut down the trees, and the developer has not made public any evidence either.
Police, who arrested residents, but refused to intervene in the tree felling, have removed from their social media a post which said activity of the developer was ‘lawful’ and instead replaced it with a statement which said the force would ‘remain impartial in delivering our core policing responsibilities.’
Councillor Valerie Anslow, who has been a key part of the action to stop the felling said Cllr Smithers has ‘abdicated all responsibility’ and said ‘they can’t pretend it has nothing to do with them’. Cllr Anslow has also put in a complaint to the Conservative police and crime commissioner Stephen Mold as she did not think the police were impartial when they were dealing with the protests.
We have sought legal advice and we believe the exemption the developer is relying on does not apply and as a result the felling is unlawful and they are committing a criminal offence. We see that the only way we can prove this action is unlawful is to take the case to court, to seek an injunction to permanently stop the tree felling for good! This is what we plan to do and we need your help to raise the funds to do this. A crowdfund will be launched to raise funds to pay for this action, we will share this as soon as this is available.
Sources MSN and NN Journal
SAVE OUR TREES – Town Council Meets
Passions flared at last night’s spirited Wellingborough Town Council’s extraordinary meeting over the controversial tree felling on The Walks. There was near total condemnation by local residents of North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) and Vistry at the meeting, the council were called “disgraceful” and denounced for their “lack of response” over their actions surrounding the felling of iconic lime trees. This video contains speeches made on the night by local residents and by two councillors.
Over 220 people crammed into the Sir Christopher Hatton Academy in Wellingborough, but there were no representatives from the developers Vistry Group or from NNC at the meeting. Battle lines were drawn as Wellingborough Town Council ‘demanded’ to see tree felling decision evidence and resolved to condemn the felling. Several councillors spoke of their shock learning the fate of the trees, just one week before felling work began, at a site meeting on February 9, 2023 after developers Vistry invited a handful of NNC Wellingborough-area ward councillors.
After hearing powerful speeches from local residents (watch them on this video) and many of the questions submitted, Councillors Valerie Anslow and Marion Turner-Hawes proposed a motion where it was decided to take all steps to protect the trees still standing on London Road and to create a town-wide Tree Preservation Policy where residents would be asked to help find trees around Wellingborough they believe are significant enough to deserve protection under law (as follows).
Wellingborough Town Council agrees:
(1) To demand that NNC supply a clear and transparent audit trail of all planning and highways decisions concerning Route 2 and ‘The Walks’ by the end of March 2023
(2) To commit to taking all necessary steps within its powers to safeguard all the protected trees in The Walks in Wellingborough.
(3) To create a town-wide Tree Preservation Policy and work with the local community and partners to identify and apply for Tree Preservation Orders for all significant Wellingborough Trees.
The felling of up to 61 trees along The Walks to allow works access to the creation of a dual carriageway along the A509 and expansion of the Tesco roundabout was revealed by Wellingborough Town Councillor Marion Turner-Hawes on February 14. The Save Our Trees campaign was launched by local residents, who argue an active Tree Protection Order protects the trees from felling, which included six people being arrested and two climbing up the trees to prevent them being removed. Despite these protests, 15 trees were cut down before work was paused last Thursday (March 2).
Following a meeting with NNC, Vistry Group agreed to pause the felling until after they have held a public consultation with residents expected within the month. We hope that you enjoy the speeches from local residents, and this inspires you to join the SAVE OUR TREES campaign. Unfortunately there is still plenty of fighting to stop the historic limes on The Walks from being cut down. More updates soon on our social media channels and via a new website due to be published next week…
Read more about the meeting at Northants Live and click here to read about it in the Northants Telegraph
8,000 people have signed the petition so far, have you? Please sign at https://chng.it/546dTcGTYc
Video recordings made by Councillor Emily Fedorowycz, Kettering Green Party.