Group disappointed with tree felling decision (From Messenger Newspapers)

Keep Trafford Green and Clean group disappointed with tree felling decision

12:30pm Friday 1st March 2013 in News

CAMPAIGN group Keep Trafford Green and Clean (KTGAC) has expressed its disappointment with the council’s failure to reconsider the planned destruction of 15 mature trees in Flixton.

Members of the group met with Alan Morgan, Trafford Council’s head of operations, Mike Savage, operations manager from Red Rose Forest, and Trafford councillors to voice their concerns.

Nigel Woodcock, chairman of KTGAC, described the meeting as a 'frustrating experience'.

He said: “It was admitted that there was no risk assessment carried out, apparently because there was no need as a 'visual assessment' had been carried out instead.

"Just because one person says that they are finding it hard to get a buggy past a mature tree that means that the tree has to go.

“The council denied that the main consideration was cost, but we came away feeling that it was all about cost.”

Urmston councillor Jo Harding - the only representative at the meeting to agree with KTGAC about the fate of the trees - said: “I believe this is all being done very quickly, and that the consultation was flawed.

“Once these trees are gone they’re gone forever and it will change the whole landscape.”

But a Trafford Council spokesperson responded by saying: “Our consultation does not just inform people that felling is to take place; it does ask for feedback, which is taken seriously by the council.

“Where significant risks have been identified in terms of dangerous trees, the council will act to keep pedestrians and motorists safe.”