Leigh Trees Axed

SEVEN trees in a Leigh road have been chopped down, despite a concerted campaign by green activist and a Green Party councillor to prevent their “devastating” removal.

 Simon Gittus, resident and Green activist, set up a petition to “stop the chop” of the ash trees in Vernon Road alongside Green Party Councillor for Leigh, Richard Longstaff, who said that the council had taken the wrong decision to cut down the mature trees.

 At the time of writing, the petition had accrued 251 signatures, but following the removal of the trees, Mr Gittus reported he was “heartbroken” to see their loss.

 He added: “They are right near a school, so no doubt the air quality will suffer. I think people will be really shaken up about this.

 “They should have managed their decline, I think there is a better way of doing it than just lopping them all down in one go.

 “Unfortunately, the council has ignored the petition and hasn’t taken the right decision to save these trees.”

 Explaining that the trees were not listed on the Council’s tree removal website, Mr Gittus claimed that justification for the removals was insufficient and did not conform to the Council’s own policy. 

 Southend Council stated that the ash trees were “riddled with fungus and disease”, a fact that Coun Longstaff says was unsubstantiated by effective protocol procedures, adding that it was a “flawed argument” that all the trees would have the disease because they’re the same species.

 He added: “Whilst we recognise the excellent works or the majority of officers on Southend Council, we’re devastated that some continue to act with impunity in not following due process.

 “My view is that this is hampering Southend Council’s ability to function at a satisfactory level.

 “There has been no head of service for Parks for two years and no continuity of leadership in this area for 4 years.  

 “Subsequently Highways have been making sweeping decisions and removing large numbers of mature street trees, often for aesthetic reasons and when they’re resurfacing pavements, without exploring alternatives with members.”

 Coun Longstaff added: “It’s incidents like this that encouraged me to submit my tree motion to full council last September.

  “But unfortunately, it has been kicked into the long grass by both the Tories and Labour, ignoring councillors who voted for it.”

 He added: “My concern is that Southend Council are setting themselves up for more public protest and the very real threat of reports to the Ombudsman and/or legal action under Environmental Law. 

 “I hope to continue to press the issue on undertaking collaborative research and partnerships to bring best practice to Southend.”

Picture: Mr Gittus at the site of one of the felled trees. Pic Simon Gittus

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