Stand-off over doomed 600-year-old oak
PROTESTERS have occupied a 600year-old oak tree to stop it from being cut down for a £250million road.
The Queen Camel tree, named after a village nearby and described as a treasure by broadcaster Chris Packham, now stands alone surrounded by construction works in the Somerset countryside.
It is destined to make way for a slip road when the A303 is upgraded into a dual carriageway near Yeovil.
An attempt to secure the tree’s future has failed in the High Court. National Highways, which oversees construction, claimed it was between 400-450 years old and not subject to a protection order.
Moving the slip road was considered in the planning process but dismissed over the severe delays that it would cause.
One protester wrote on Twitter: ‘This tree’s stood watch over this land for 600 years. National Highways has deliberately misrepresented its age and size in order to avoid its legal obligations.
‘ Those here are all willing to get arrested by resisting non-violently.’
The protest attracted support from Packham, who tweeted: ‘This is a magnificent tree... It’s important, precious, a treasure... It will never be replaced.’
The agency said it was committed to planting trees to prevent biodiversity being lost from the A303 scheme, and removing the tree was ‘a last resort’.