2023-06-07 11:15:40
The felling of 100 trees in Plymouth sparks a chain reaction in the UK
It happened overnight. Protected by private security guards, the municipal operators of Plymouth they fenced off the boulevard known as Armada Way, pulled out their chainsaws, and felled in a matter of hours. more than 100 trees mature trees that had been shading the promenade for more than half a century. Barely 15 were saved by a petition in the middle of the night before the courts of the local environmental group Straw, alleging the nesting season of the birds, the public interest and the more than 16,000 signatures collected against logging.
But the Plymouth ‘arboricide’ had already been consummated. The neighbors awoke to the grove that made its way to the sea turned into a wasteland with piles of firewood piled up. The explanations about the ‘remodeling’ of the Armada Way to turn it into a European-style avenue were of little use to them.
the conservative Richard Bingley, leader of the local council (equivalent to mayor), was forced to resign due to the protests and his party paid for it weeks later with a defeat at the polls. the labor Tudor Evans He promised to “rescue” the lost trees as much as possible and “reunite the city divided” by an urban fiasco comparable to the “Sheffield massacre”, which involved the felling of 6,000 trees in what was considered the greenest city in Europe. .
“The decision to fell trees has been enormously damaging to Plymouth, which had a reputation for passionately defending its green transition,” Tudor Evans declared at the time of stopping the project and starting a new consultation period with the public. “There are many lessons we can learn from this incident. unfortunate that it has polarized public opinion”.
The naturalist and television presenter Chris Packham has been at the forefront of the chorus of personalities who have openly condemned the logging: “From one day to the next, the local government felled 100 trees in the center of the city. It was a scene of environmental devastation and vandalism. I am horrified by the actions of the tories in the city Hall. These have been sad days for Plymouth.”
“The felled trees were planted behind the Second World War and they were the symbol of the rebirth of Plymouth”, recalls Alison White, founder of STRAW (Save the Trees of Armada Way). “We support the regeneration of the center of the city, but we do not understand how you can start by razing a hundred trees that They provided shade and shelter, which improved air quality and guaranteed cooling in summer and the collection of rainwater”.
For weeks, the neighbors stood guard to save the trees, They ‘dressed’ their trunks with knitting, they involved the children in the campaign. Urged by the Plymouth City Center Company, and at the risk of losing grants for an estimated €14 million redevelopment, the felling was given the go-ahead by city council in mid-March, setting off a chain reaction elsewhere in the UK.
From Plymouth, the Devon port city of 250,000, the spark has jumped to Wellingborough in central England, which has rallied in defense of its centuries-old lime trees. And from there to the London neighborhood of Haringey, where the Tree Protectors have launched a protest for months to save a 120-year-old banana tree from felling.
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