High Court extends Plymouth tree felling injunction
An early morning injunction which halted the work of council contractors tasked with felling more than a hundred trees in Plymouth's town centre has been extended by the High Court today (24 March).
The eleventh hour injunction stopped Plymouth City Council's workers felling trees at 1 am on 15 March. By that time, 117 had been chopped down.
Under the injunction, Plymouth cannot fell any remaining mature city centre forest trees.
The late-night works attracted national media attention and criticism and have seen its leader, Cllr Richard Bingley, resign from his position. Cllr Bingley was facing a vote of no confidence, according to the BBC.
The works are part of a regeneration plan for the centre, which aims to create a "more impressive route" from North Cross roundabout through the city centre. The council revealed in a statement that the final design was changed to include 169 semi-mature new trees to be planted.
Terms of the injunction include a requirement that the council ensure the clearance of felled trees, branches, and stumps are subject to expert opinion and involve the claimant, STRAW Plymouth.
A spokesperson for Plymouth said: "High Streets up and down the country are struggling. Our decision to transform Armada Way was a mandated, democratic decision, agreed by Plymouth City Council's elected members. Our aim was to transform a tired and run down part of the city centre.
"While we acknowledge some people's concerns about the loss of trees, others in our city are very clear they want this change.
"We will be considering the full implications of the judge's remarks in the coming days."
The campaign group, which is represented by Alice Goodenough of Harrison Grant Ring Solicitors, has also filed for judicial review.
According to Goodenough, the key grounds for judicial review include that "lots of information from the council was not disclosed" and a claim that Plymouth failed to provide a proper environmental impact assessment.
Adam Carey
