I OVERSEE our "estate management" at Ecotricity and I’d like the chance to respond to the comments made by Anna Appelmelk on September 24, about the staff car parking site opposite our Stroud HQ building.

Anna speaks of a new car park, though this patch of land has been in use as a car park for many, many years, as has the entrance road, which is the main access route into the Philip Ford Funeral Services site.

The fact that the existing car park was not very visible from the road was an indicator of the overgrowth of vegetation on the site’s perimeter.

Mature trees cannot sensibly be used as giant hedging plants, and yet this is what had been allowed to happen over the years because of both spread and self-seeding.

Before we did anything, we appointed a local landcare specialists based on their environmental sensitivity as much as for their tree surgery prowess.

Subsequent work was based solely on their recommendations, ie reduction in unhealthy over-crowding, removal of any diseased trees, ivy and scrub and dead-wooding of the remaining trees.

Careful planning and site surveys ensured no impact on nesting birds.

The trees on site are real beauties that will now thrive, the whole area has been opened up to natural light, we’ve repaired the stone wall and discovered, cleaned and painted Victorian railings previously hidden from view.

We may in the future consider planting a hedge around the site, though our first priority was to provide those trees with optimal conditions.

As for the movement of pedestrians through this area, with more than 500 staff members in the vicinity, we share Anna’s concerns.

We are in on-going discussion with the county council about improvements we’d like to see, including changes and additions to crossing points to maximise pedestrian safety and minimise the impact on drivers.

Watch this space.

Trevor Saunders

Ecotricity Group Stroud