Campaigners urge council to save trees from the axe
MATURE LONDON PLANES MAY MAKE WAY FOR NEW HOUSING DEVELOPMENT
CAMPAIGNERS are urging a housing association to spare 42 trees they are planning to cut down to make way for new homes.
Catalyst Housing is planning to axe the mature London plane trees as part of its redevelopment plan at the Wornington Green estate in north Kensington, but residents appealed to Kensington & Chelsea Council to intervene.
They delivered a petition signed by 856 people urging Catalyst to have a rethink.
Catalyst is building 1,000 new homes, with 538 for social rent.
Keith Stirling has lived on the estate since the 1960s.
He said: “People in this part of the borough suffer from poor health. We have got the Westway, the railway and Ladbroke Grove and the pollution from them. We need these trees.”
He wants Catalyst to work round the trees as they did when the estate was first built in the 1960s.
“What could be nicer when you wake up in the morning than seeing a bird in a tree?” he added.
Constantine Gras, who made the film Wornington Words about the estate, said while Catalyst is planning to plant 55 replacement trees many will be in private gardens. He said only a few “will be seen and appreciated by the wider community”.
He said the mature trees “are essential for improving air quality in a heavily polluted part of the borough next to the A40 Westway”. “We need to save these trees, not just for the mental and physical health of residents and locals, but to maintain biodiversity and protect the habitat used by hundreds of birds and squirrels.” Johnny Thalassites, the council’s lead member for planning and transportation, said as Catalyst got planning permission in 2010 for the estate redevelopment “they are within their rights to carry out the development in line with that planning permission. The planning permission included consent to remove certain trees to allow the new buildings and streets to be built”. However, he added: “We do recognise the importance and value of trees particularly in these challenging times. We are discussing options with Catalyst to see if we can find consensus on what can and can’t be done outside of the planning permission, whilst still allowing the development to go ahead and the housing to be delivered.”
A spokeswoman for Catalyst said: “We absolutely understand residents’ concerns about the removal of trees at Wornington Green, particularly at the moment when people are spending more time at home and access to local green space is more important than ever. Wherever possible, we design buildings and streets around trees, as we have done in other parts of the estate, but unfortunately some need to be removed for the building work to progress as we build 230 new homes, including 108 for social rent.”
The scheme would see 55 new trees planted in public spaces and private gardens.
She added: “We are currently reviewing our plans in an attempt to increase the number of retained trees, re-plant some elsewhere on the estate and plant more mature trees. We are also planting almost half an acre of grassland and wildflower green roofs in this next phase.”
Councillor Thalassites said he is talking to Catalyst and residents are due to raise their concerns at the council’s overview and scrutiny meeting on December 17.
What could be nicer when you wake up in the morning than seeing a bird in a tree?
Keith Stirling