A Town Hall meeting on 17 March agreed to call a halt to felling while further consultation takes place. Councillors and council officers at the meeting recognised that a number of residents are concerned about the planned programme and that "further engagement with residents is required".
A statement from the meeting closed with the words:
...it has been agreed to postpone any further tree removals until after the consultation process has been concluded. [However] it has been agreed to continue with the additional tree planting that was planned as part of the current contract. The consultation process will commence in May.'
Councillor Mary Watson met with the Whalley Range Trees group to report the meeting's deliberations. She suggested that the statement effectively means there should be no further felling before December 2011. Local residents are understandably thrilled by the news. One member of the pressure group said, "This appears to cover exactly what we have been asking for – a suspension of felling to allow proper consultation and involvement; continuation of planting with input from the group; our involvement in implementing the strategy."
Cllr Watson is to report back to the council on the Group's ideas for organising the planting which is still to take place. We have suggested that there need be no reduction to the planting work in light of the halt to felling. There are very many alternative locations for additional planting aside from where the existing trees are growing. And Cllr Watson also agreed to present our hopes that the two trees heavily cut back by the commencement of felling operations should be left to recover - subject to safety assessments.
The WRT group wants to acknowledge and praise all the different contributions - large and small - public and discreet - which have undoubtedly played a part in securing this positive outcome. It's the breadth of support that has made this success possible. The support has been focused behind a clearly justified, open, inclusive and constructive campaigning position which the group has taken from the start. Now local residents can look forward to working with the Councillors and the Council in devising a new exciting phase of the plan which better meets everyone's needs.
Council get contractors to start felling - but not for long
The council posted letters through doors on selected streets recently. The letter (dated March 2011) says "Dear Sir/Madam, I write to inform you that as part of the Council’s Tree Management Programme for
Whalley Range it is intended to remove trees from the locations details below -" The letter presented a list of trees as follows:
| Road | Location | Species |
| Alness Road | O/S 1/3 | Large-leaved Lime |
| Alness Road | O/S 46 | Horse Chestnut |
| College Road | O/S 32 | Common Lime |
| College Road | S/O 167 Upper Chorlton Rd | Common Lime |
| Dudley Road | O/P ent to Turnpike Ct | Common Lime |
| Dudley Road | O/S 107 | Common Lime |
| Mayfield Road | O/P 21 | Common Lime |
| Mayfield Road | O/P Netto 16m from Wit`n Rd | Common Lime |
| Range Road | O/S 11/13 | Horse Chestnut |
| Russell Road | O/P Deeping Av | Common Lime |
| Russell Road | O/P 35 | Common Lime |
| Stanley Road | O/P 7/9 | Common Lime |
| Wilbraham Road | O/S 407/409 | Ash |
| Wilbraham Road | O/S 445 | Ash |
| Withington Road | S/O 98 Brantingham Rd | Common Lime |
The letter went on to detail the felling plan as follows:
"It is intended to remove the trees during March this year and suitable replacements will be
planted during March/April 2011."
Felling halted - but what next?
On Monday 7 March a lone brave local resident faced and blocked the Council contractors. While elsewhere another resident challenged why another half grown apparently healthy tree was being cut down. The tree had its crown removed and another tree with no obvious sign of decay lost several branches before the contractors called in David Davidson the council's green space manager.
A face-to-face stand off with the resident followed and the resident reported climbing on a second contractor’s truck to prevent further cutting. "I don't usually do this sort of thing," the resident said, "but hearing the chainsaw I had to do something". A subsequent phone call to local MP Gerald Kaufman elicited a call to the council to halt work and send the contractors and their trucks home. Gerald Kaufman's office will be investigating the issue.
We have been petitioning and dialoguing with the council for months to get a mutually agreed plan. We see the Council action as premature given that dialogue is still in process to find an agreeable way forward.
Local residents don't feel the council is listening to the specific concerns raised for a more detailed technical eqipment-based survey to be documented and circulated which could warrant cutting of the individual trees targeted by the council. The trees create a special natural environment in the local community. "I don't understand what all the rush is about to cut these trees," said another local resident who lived next to the tree that survived the day's drama.
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January news
Despite meeting with the Council last year and with local MP Gerald Kaufman (see below), the group weren't able to get adequate answers to our questions concerning timescales and decisions on individual trees. Council officers agreed to reviewing selected trees with respect to size, situation and condition. But this has been a very limited exercise leading to a small number of trees being moved either forward or backward in the timescale. The only justification given for most individual trees being felled at their allocated point in the plan is to ensure that 473 trees are felled without extending the plan overall.
This means that none of the trees due to be felled this month have been identified as diseased, dying or dangerous. At worst, they have been grouped together as 'in decline'.
We have drawn up and sent a letter to the Council making our concerns clear and suggesting constructive ways forward. A small independent survey suggests there is definitely room for review of the plan to minimise reductions of the canopy using a combination of delays to felling, where that can be found to be appropriate, and more extensive planting. Our letter makes clear that we are seeking a prioritisation of advance planting. And we are further seeking a deferrment of planned felling for one year while the plan, it's reliability, appropriateness and overall timescale is reviewed with greater community engagement.
You can see the letter (December Letter to MCC) and the independent sample survey (Appendix 1...) by following links on the Other information page.
A meeting took place with local MP Gerald Kaufman (on 17 Dec). He expressed his concern that everything should be done to avoid unnecessary felling. He wrote to the Chief Executive of the Council but the response indicated a determination to stick to the original plan with no serious attempt to respond to the specific concerns raised by our letter.
http://www.gopetition.com/petition/40848.html