1 November 2006
Felled at dawn!
The fate of 200-300 year old oak in Penmaenmawr underlines how the planning system is failing to protect Wales’ trees
Following the felling of two mature oak trees (1) in Penmaenmawr (2) at dawn last Saturday morning, one of them between 200 and 300 years old, at a time when the Local Council could not be contacted, Coed Cadw (the Woodland Trust) is writing to all the members of the Welsh Assembly urging them to use the Assembly’s new legislation powers to tighten the protection for Wales’ trees especially ancient and heritage trees following next May’s election.
The oaks were felled by contractors on Saturday 28 October. Local residents were unable to contact Conwy County Borough Council to ask for the trees to be protected by a Tree Preservation Order (3), despite the involvement of an elected member of the Council and the Police (4). The contractors were warned by residents that they may be breaking the law by destroying a potential bat roost without having it surveyed first, but they continued regardless.
Conwy Council has already refused one planning application for housing on the site. Local residents fear that the felling of the trees, at a time when the Council could not be contacted, was a crude attempt to remove a key obstacle to a new application. There appears to be uncertainty as to who actually owns the land in question, and Coed Cadw can only speculate about who was ultimately responsible for ordering the contractors to fell these trees.
The “Blue Book” that gives guidance to Local Authorities on the operation of TPOs in England suggests that Local Authorities make it possible for the public to contact them out of office hours so as to deal with just this eventuality3, but this document does not apply in Wales, and the closest Welsh equivalent document, Technical Advice Note 10, contains no such advice.
Together, these trees appear to represent upwards of 5 cubic metres of timber. Under the Forestry Act it is illegal to fell more than 5 cubic metres of timber within three months without a licence from the Forestry Commission. The contractors had no such licence. Whether or not the Commission takes this issue further and brings a prosecution against the contractors will be a test as to whether there is any real protection for mature trees in Wales today.
Mr Michael Lewis King, who runs a furniture shop opposite the site and who tried to stop the felling going ahead on Saturday said: “This was a dereliction of duty by the Council. Somehow, they failed to protect these trees wonderful old trees with a TPO. I’d like to know where they were on Saturday. There are still a good number of smaller trees on the site and, after what happened on Saturday, the Council should now protect all of them with a TPO.”
Rory Francis, Public Affairs Officers for Coed Cadw (the Woodland Trust) adds: “The local residents I’ve spoken to are devastated by the loss of these trees. The oldest of them is likely to have been standing at the time of the American Declaration of Independence, the Industrial Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.
“The way these trees were lost simply underlines how the system is failing to protect Wales’ trees and shows how vulnerable our most precious ancient and notable trees would be in a similar situation. The Assembly is gaining new powers to legislate and I’d like them to use those powers to provide proper protection for all trees but especially for our ancient and heritage trees, making them ‘green monuments’ as already happens in Sweden, for example.”
Take action now to make a difference!
Support the Woodland Trust’s Campaign to provide proper protection for Wales’ trees e-mailing your AM now!
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For media enquiries contact:
Rory Francis (Publicity and Public Affairs Officer for Wales) on 01766 832563or 07760 171174
Afallon, Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd LL41 3RH
Email roryfrancis@woodland-trust.org.uk
or The Woodland Trust Press Office on 01476 581121, e-mail media@woodland-trust.org.uk
Notes to editors
1. The larger of the two trees had a girth of 1m, the smaller 80cm. Though some of the rings are indistinct and difficult to count, the larger tree is believed to be between 200 and 300 years old.
2. The trees stood at grid reference SH 714 762. The location can be viewed on multimap
3. Tree Preservation Orders: a guide to the law and good practice (paragraph 3.6) advises that: “Because TPOs are often made at a time when trees may soon be cut down or destroyed, many LPAs find it convenient to delegate the function of making a TPO to an officer or officers of the Council, and to put in place arrangements to act at short notice during and outside normal office hours.”
4. The Council’s emergency contact line (01492 515777) was not being answered on Saturday and all attempts to contact staff from the planning department directly, failed.
5. The Woodland Trust is working with the Ancient Tree Forum and the Tree Council to try to secure better protection for Wales' trees.
Coed Cadw (The Woodland Trust)
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 250,000 members and supporters. The Trust has four key aims: i) No further loss of ancient woodland; ii) Restoring and improving the biodiversity of woods; iii) Increasing new native woodland; iv) Increasing people’s awareness and enjoyment of woodland.
Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). These include over 100 sites in Wales, with a total area of 1,580 hectares (3,900 acres). It offers free public access to nearly all of its sites. Further news can be accessed via www.coed-cadw.org.uk The Trust adopted a new Welsh language name in 2000: “Coed Cadw”. This is an old Welsh term, used in medieval laws to describe protected or preserved woodland
