Cutting trees is cutting relief from the world

I think that I shall never see, a motorway as lovely as a tree.

But for many locals, the loss of our trees is becoming part of everyday life, as developers, Highways England and anyone else with an axe now fancy themselves as lumberjacks.

As if losing greenery in the Garden of England wasn’t enough, the loss of woodland, no matter how small, can have a devastating effect on our lives.

Quiet nights and solitude are now sacrificed by the intrusive sound of traffic - as if we didn’t see enough of it during the day.

In the next two years a stretch of the M20 will soon become a smart motorway.

But however clever, the stretch between Borough Green and Aylesford will be more obnoxious than ever - if Highways England sticks to its plan to only keep two of the four lanes quiet.

While the agency plans to re-plant trees these will take time to grow and the resurfacing wouldn’t be needed if people still had the mature specimens.

Housing developers are also lopping down trees to make way for homes, in an increasingly overcrowded part of the county.

If this goes on, we’ll be stumped to find some peace and quiet.

Any act to defend our natural world must be backed, trees are much more than filler between the next housing block.

They provide a green lung to an increasingly polluted world, they can stem the tide of sound pollution and they can help to save our lives.

Since 2009, thousands of trees have been planted across NHS sites, helping people access green spaces whilst at hospital.

Surely trees should be growing everywhere else, for our own every day wellbeing?