Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Renewed anger over tree felling
A DIY chain has sparked further anger after revising plans to cut down trees in one of Canterbury’s most polluted areas. Following immense backlash over its original proposal to rip out 14 mature London Planes in Cow Lane, hardware firm Wickes now says it will only fell the “poor quality” trees.
But the revisions have only added further fuel to the fire with critics suggesting every tree, no matter its condition, should remain intact.
The plans revolve around Wickes’ impending arrival in the former Homebase store on the Wincheap Industrial Estate. The original proposal was to cut down 14 trees, but it has now been reduced to nine, with blueprints suggesting the lesser quality trees and shrubbery will be the only vegetation to be ripped out.
The trees, which have recently been drastically cut back by the council to promote future growth, are set to be replaced with a grass verge, with three more to be planted in “tree pits”. More than 150 people have lodged objections, citing the benefits of London Planes absorbing toxic chemicals and tackling greenhouse gases. Wincheap is also classed as
“an area of concern” for pollution and the heavily congested suburb is deemed the district’s “worst” zone for levels of harmful nitrogen oxide emissions. Speaking on behalf of Canterbury’s Green Party, Anna Peckham said: “It is odd that these trees are referred to as ‘poor quality’ in the revised plans despite no mention of this in the original application where they were classified as non-diseased.” Meanwhile, an objection from the Canterbury Heritage Design Forum reads: “The removal of the trees seems to be a ridiculous PR ploy, to make the new operation visible in some way to its target consumers. All the trees on the site should be valued as while they are not ancient, they introduce a welcome element of greenery into the estate, which is otherwise a rather sterile and ugly environment.” Wickes was contacted for comment but did not respond.