Felling of M5 trees ‘ruins’ lives of locals
HOMEOWNERS living near a busy stretch of the M5 are furious after almost 100 trees were chopped down, leaving them exposed to ‘‘unbearable’’ noise and pollution.
The trees, which sheltered the residents of Clay Drive in Quinton from the noise, light and pollution from the motorway, were removed by National Grid last week in what the company said was “essential safety work”.
The conifers stood between the M5 and homes in the area between Clay Drive and Village Mews, Quinton.
Resident Melanie Davies, said the decision to cut down the trees had ‘‘ruined’’ her life.
“I’ve put so much time and effort into making this house a home, but I don’t enjoy my life here anymore.
“You can smell the motorway, it’s vile. It smells like I live in a gas station.
“The street lighting illuminates my house and creates a strobing effect in the kitchen.
“You can’t get away from it, it’s just relentless.”
Ms Davies says her mental health has suffered since the trees were chopped down, having spent nearly £50,000 renovating the property.
“There’s no getting away from it – in every corner of my property I can hear the motorway.
“My mental health has taken a nosedive. I just don’t want to be at home anymore.”
Another resident, Michael Lawrence, said: “Now they’ve gone, the wildlife has gone too, pollution has increased and the view has been completely ruined.
“We had no time whatsoever to have a dialogue with National Grid.”
The land behind the gardens of the properties is owned by National Highways which gave National Grid permission to cut down the trees to protect power lines.
National Highways says it will replace the trees with cherry laurel.
Cllr Dom Stanford (Quinton, Con) said: “This has seemingly come out of nowhere, without an enormous amount of consultation, which is what I think has shocked and upset so many residents here.
“The responses they’ve had from National Grid have been fairly abrupt and quite rude in nature which hasn’t helped the situation.”