Bath & North East Somerset Council has thrown a protective cordon around what is left of a hillside woodland in Southdown after the “wanton destruction” of many trees.
The site on Ivy Avenue in Bath
The planning committee agreed on Wednesday 18th February that a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) should be placed on the Ivy Avenue site.
The committee heard from landowner Craig Harding, who was objecting. He said prior to his ownership, the trees hadn’t been managed for a considerable period.
He’d received correspondence from the council requesting that overgrowth be cut back from the road and said “limited works” had been done on professional advice. His tree surgeons had identified dieback, decay and structural weakness within certain specimens.
He denied their removal was part of “wholesale clearance” and said he’d fenced the boundary to enhance public safety. TPOs should be reserved for trees of “clear public importance” and the threshold hadn’t been met.
An Ivy Avenue resident, on behalf of more than 40 others in the road and Hillcrest Drive which sits above the woodland, said the site incorporates Mr Harding’s and that of other landowners.
He said there are sycamore, ash, laurel, hazel, elder and cherry trees, some of them 50 to 60 years old, and the site is home to birds, foxes and badgers.
He said the root system prevents soil erosion and the removal of a tree at the top has led to slippage.
He added that Mr Harding had made it clear he wishes to chop down the trees to build houses.
Ward councillor Dine Romero (Southdown, Lib Dem) said: “I was first aware of the wanton destruction of the trees when I received phone calls, emails and texts from several very upset residents who’d woken up to the sound of chainsaws destroying the place they feel belongs to them and is outlined on their deeds.
“These trees form part of an amenity which those at the top end of Ivy Avenue have a right to. It should not be fenced off or chopped down.”
She said: “We have seen the impact in the past when trees have fallen in storms. The walls at the ends of the gardens of Hillcrest Drive have collapsed.”
She added: “If this TPO is not granted, it will not be long before all the trees are cut down and what then happens to the hillside? This woodland is literally holding this side of the hillside together.”
The committee unanimously supported the TPO.
