Rochford oak tree: Police called to development dispute

Residents held a vigil at the oak tree last month, which is due to be chopped down to make way for 662 homes

Police have stepped in amid a dispute between protesters and a developer over plans to fell an oak tree.

A woman has occupied a wooden platform on the tree, which has protected status, in Ashingdon Road, Rochford, since roughly 21:30 BST on Thursday.

Officers from Essex Police cordoned off the area and fencing was put up around the tree.

Bloor Homes said it had all the relevant permissions to safely remove the tree.

Contractors for the firm are due to start removing the tree on Monday as part of a 662-home housing development.

Leanne Dalby, of the Save the Holt Farm Oak Tree group, was one of four demonstrators inside the fencing.

"The majority of people living here want to save the tree and we can't understand why it's necessary to kill it," said the 42-year-old IT recruiter, from Rochford.

Essex Police was called after a woman occupied the tree on a wooden platform

The development was initially refused by Rochford District Council but that decision was overturned by the Planning Inspectorate in March 2022.

Bloor Homes agreed to pay the council £67,560 in compensation for the loss of the tree, which is subject to a Tree Preservation Order, and a further £75,000 for tree planting nearby.

It wants to remove the tree to allow for a new junction.

The developer said the branches would be donated to Holt Farm Infant School and an artist has been recruited to turn the oak into a sculpture or "community" seating.

However, the primary school said it had not agreed to take any part of the oak.

Charlotte Scriven, the school's chair of governors, said: "Our ongoing dialogue surrounding this housing development focuses entirely on our children's safety."

The 662-home development was approved after a public inquiry

"We're asking them to rethink the junction," added Ms Dalby.

"I'm definitely staying," she said. "My friend's up the tree and I'm not leaving her up on her own. We're not doing anything illegal until the contractors turn up."

A Bloor Homes spokesperson said it was liaising with police and Essex County Council, adding: "Despite having all the relevant permissions to safely remove the tree, we are now faced by obstruction from protestors."

Essex Police said it was assisting Bloor Homes but that "at this stage" no criminal offences had been reported or witnessed.