Residents' dismay over tree felling in Greenham

BBOWT remove six trees over safety fears

RESIDENTS have expressed dismay over the felling of a number of large trees that have lined the entrance to Greenham Common for decades.

Earlier this week, the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) removed six tall poplar trees that had surr-ounded the car park at the top of Pyle Hill.

The trust say the trees were removed as they posed a safety risk. However a number of residents have contacted the Newbury Weekly News to vent their anger at the decision.

One resident, Barry Edmondson, who has lived on Bury Bank Road for 25 years, called the felling of the trees outrageous, and said that residents should have been consulted before the decision was made.

He said: “I thought we lived in a democracy and the watch word was consultation. There has been none of it.

"The council built a car park there, and we presume will have done a risk assessment. The council were obviously happy with the trees at the time.

“Then the council lease the land to a third party and the third party do a risk assessment and decide the trees pose a risk to our health and safety, even though they have 40 to 60 years life left in them.

“The people at BBOWT do not live at Blue Gate so do not know what it has been like to live there and why those trees are important to us.”

Senior Land Manager (Berkshire), with the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust, Alex Cruickshank, said that while they had not consulted residents they had consulted a number of organisations including Greenham and Crookham Commons Commission, West Berkshire Archaeological Team and Greenham Parish Council.

He added: “The six tall poplar trees that surround the car park are at risk of dropping branches onto vehicles and people.

“When BBOWT, the local Wildlife Trust, took on the management of the Greenham and Crookham Common’s nature reserve from West Berkshire Council, BBOWT agreed to carry out a survey of all the trees in and adjacent to public areas and remove those that could not be made safe.

“The six poplar trees have been surveyed by BBOWT’s Tree Safety Officer and found to be at serious risk of branches dropping, and possibly trees falling, on Bury’s Bank Road and on cars, people, children and dogs in the car park. BBOWT does not take decisions to fell trees lightly and where possible we leave trees where they do not pose a risk to safety.”

The acting clerk at Greenham Parish Council, Heather Westbrook, said that while they had been informed of the decision, it was very much a notification, rather than a request for consultation.

She added: “As a parish council we are not in a position to decide if a tree stays or if it goes.

“If BBOWT say a tree is end-of -life and poses a danger to people or property then, given that it is very much in their area of expertise, we have to believe that.”

West Berkshire councillor and ward member for Greenham, Billy Drummond, sympathised with residents saying: “I feel sorry for the residents who have lived here for years and years and become used to the trees.

“I think BBOWT could have just dropped them a letter to let them know, but I don’t think BBOWT are that way inclined.”