Newark car park saga: Council's tree felling U-turn cost £500k

The council reversed its decision after pressure from environmental campaigners

A council U-turn on plans to fell trees for a car park extension in Nottinghamshire cost the taxpayer £500,000, a report has revealed.

Four trees were set to be chopped down by Newark and Sherwood District Council to make way for the extension in London Road, Newark.

The council reversed its decision following pressure from campaigners.

Now, an independent review has found that the environmental impact of the plans was not considered.

According to the report by Assurance Lincolnshire, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the council "did not always conform to good governance principles expected in local government nor clearly demonstrate value for money".

Protect Newark's Green Spaces said campaigners were willing to chain themselves to the trees

It adds: "Whilst we acknowledge the commercial sensitivity of the matters under consideration - key stakeholders had very little opportunity to effectively engage with the council in the early stages of the process.

"In our view, the council could have developed an effective consultation plan to support the process without compromising commercial sensitivities.

"The situation the council found itself in at the end of the transaction for the London Road car park extension meant that it was in a position of moving forward with a 'least worst' option - which was not necessarily the best value option in financial terms."

The council entered an agreement with Datch Properties Limited to take over the land in 2019.

The agreement committed the council to building the car park and to pay the company £30,000 per year in rent for 25 years, following an initial two-year, rent-free period.

The council reversed the decision in November last year, agreeing to buy back the land for £450,000 and not build the car park extension, ensuring the trees escaped being felled - though one has since been chopped down after being found to be diseased.

The felled tree, which was said to be seriously diseased

Campaigners now want the land to become a community garden.

A statement from Protect Newark's Green Spaces said: "We expect that NSDC officers and members... will publicly and sincerely apologise to council taxpayers across the district for their failures of governance and due diligence which have wasted so much of their money."

The report found the sale of the municipal building and adjoining land, the lease back of the land and the subsequent buy back of the land has cost the council more than £500,000.

John Robinson, chief executive of Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: "Quite rightly, questions were asked about how the council found itself in this situation and this has been the focus of the independent review.

"The review highlights things that we got wrong and things we should have done better. We need to hold our hands up to these things and learn from them."