Fury over trees (From Stroud News and Journal)

Fury over trees

OUTRAGED residents have applied for a tree protection order after a construction company chopped down trees originally protected by a covenant.

Four lime trees have been cut down by construction firm Robert Hitchins to make way for modifications to a roundabout near Bond's Mill, Stonehouse.

Residents of nearby Avenue Terrace responded by applying for a tree protection order to be put on the remaining trees. The order came into effect on Thursday, April 14.

Stroud District Council was entrusted with the covenant, which dates back to 1939 and states that the land should be used only for recreational purposes.

Even when ownership of the land changed hands, this would have protected it as a green belt site.

However, the council later lifted the conditions of the covenant at Robert Hitchins's request for a fee of £100,000.

A government inspector gave permission for development to take place on the site in 1996 but said the covenant was a separate issue.

The report said that development plans must retain trees along the north and south-western borders of the site, and specify measures for their protection.

David Drew told the SNJ: "We were very unhappy because there was a clear procedure through which Hitchins should have gone.

"They should have checked with the district council.

"It is disgraceful. They didn't need to cut four trees down."

Richard White, a resident of nearby Avenue Terrace said: "The issue here is if a government inspector puts a protection order on something, can Stroud District Council take it away?

"From a logical point of view, when you enter a roundabout you look to your right - and the trees are to the left."

And he added that the trees were 100 yards away from the roundabout.

A spokesperson from Stroud District Council said the council released the covenant after barristers advised that Hitchins would win if the case were to come to court.

Chris Brine, Chairman of Stonehouse Town Planning Committee, said: "I am very disappointed because I hate to see any trees felled within the district. We are losing our rural identity."

"This approval was given quite a while ago. For health and safety the roundabout had to be modified and I think the planning department did act in accordance with planning guidelines."

Darrell Rogers, one of the planning officers who approved the decision, said: "The trees down on the Bond's Mill site don't have any statutory protection slapped on them. So this could be done without any planning application.

"When the plans were proposed in August 2002 it was clear that four trees would have to be removed."

A spokesman from Robert Hitchins declined to comment.