Mum says she will spend Christmas day up a tree
- Published
A woman said she would forgo her Christmas day lunch with her family to sit in a tree in order to try and save it from for being felled near her home.
Hazel Harwin, 61, lives in Barkers Lane in March, Cambridgeshire, where a new 130-house development was proposed. Under the plans, trees and hedges would be cleared to facilitate a wider pedestrian path and cycle way.
Mrs Harwin has fond memories of her children playing in the tree and said they had protection orders and should not be lost due to them supporting a vast array of wildlife.
Fenland District Council, external said tree protection orders could be overturned if a scheme was believed to be more beneficial to the wider community.
"My children climbed this tree", said Hazel Harwin, 61, who has lived on Barkers Lane for more than 30 years.
One of the trees Mrs Harwin was trying to save is in the grounds of the Neale-Wade Academy, behind a 1.5m (5ft) high fence, and about 1m (3ft) from the verge on Barkers Lane.
The school has been contacted for comment.
"I know I will be technically trespassing when my husband sets up a ladder and I climb up into the tree, but if anyone says I can't be there, I'll just sit on the verge on Barkers Lane," she said.
A petition recently set up by Mrs Harwin opposing the clearing of trees and hedges along Barkers Lane has gained more than 500 signatures, and she will present it to Fenland District Council, and their planning team, in the New Year.
Fenland District Council said the purpose of tree preservation orders were to ensure that unauthorised works or felling were not undertaken and that any such works were considered in the appropriate manner.
It said in certain instances, the loss of protected trees can be deemed necessary to facilitate the wider delivery of development and the benefits which this may bring.
In regard to Bakers Lane, council documents showed some, but not all of the tree, could need to be removed to facilitate increasing the width of the road.
The impact of this on the character of the area was discussed within the committee report and during the Planning Committee meeting, as were the benefits of delivering the development.
Councillors concluded further work was needed to establish in more detail which trees may need to be removed and to protect those which stay, if the plans were approved.
Get in touch
Do you have a story suggestion for Cambridgeshire?
Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, external, Instagram, external and X, external.
Related topics
Related stories
- Published24 November
- Published5 December
- Published6 December