Everyone is furious. Spencer Manufacturing in Ludlow has felled several trees this morning. There was no necessity for this. A beautiful cherry tree now lies in chunks.
I am not suggesting that the site owners or the landscape company have acted illegally. But we must stop stripping the green out of our environment. We will become extinct if the bugs and beasties that support the ecosystem have nowhere to live. Trees are a fundamental part of our contract with the natural world. They absorb the greenhouse gas CO2 and give us life maintaining oxygen in return.
We lose trees because they age. We lose trees because we need to build. We should never lose trees unnecessarily as we have today.
I took Mel the Collie out for the usual walk this morning. Around 7am we saw contractors arriving and beginning to work on the trees. I thought it was routine management which can happen at any time of the year providing nests are not disturbed. It was a while later, nearly nine o’clock, when we returned. The slaughter of the trees was nearing completion. People said to me: “Andy. Why?”
I don’t know why this work is being done. Is it over the Easter weekend to be out of the glare of publicity?
I do know that I have enjoyed the dawn chorus of the birds in the cherry trees for the last several weeks.
Viv Parry is councillor for this area. I told her what was happening and she said: “This is disgraceful. No one should be cutting trees down at this time of the year. We need more trees not less. The trees made this industrial area look a lot better. They provided a pleasant place to sit outside the unit.”
Trees need to be managed. There are many ways of doing this – coppicing and pollarding among them. Routine pruning helps a lot. Management of trees is our irrevocable responsibility to the environment and to our future.
Tree slaughter is not tree management.
For all its beauty, many areas of Ludlow and the surrounding parishes are a biodiversity desert, especially along the A49. We need to change this. Every tree matters.
What happened today brings shame on our town. We need a green future. We need every tree, bush and scrubby plant that we can get.
Further information
On birds and trees, planning and police – when can developers chop down trees?
ALL tres must be given conservation status and not be allowed to be cut down without legal permission. Because all trees, not just ‘special cases’ are vital to the continuation of life on the planet.
Just driven past – wish I had a camera – absolute butchery. I’ll never buy from Howdens again – how arrogant of them to massacre these beautiful trees.
Nothing to do with Howdens at all
Who is responsible. Howdens or Spencer ??
Planning permission???
Spencer’s factory was split into 2 by it current owners one end sold off to a new landlord (by pass end)howdens
rent this part
so I’m guessing Spencer’s own the trees