City centre maple tree felling plan to be reviewed

A tree's felling as part of multi-million pound plans for a city centre building has been put on hold after concerns were raised by campaigners.

The mature maple tree outside Plymouth's Civic Centre had been earmarked for removal to allow a wheelchair ramp at the site which is at the centre of a £47m project to develop apartments and a college campus.

Campaign group STRAW (Save the Trees of Armada Way) wrote to Plymouth City Council asking it to hold off axing the tree until there had been time to understand why it could not be retained.

The council confirmed it would take another look at whether alternative options had been considered, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

STRAW was set up to challenge the council after its former administration gave the go-ahead to fell more than 100 trees in Armada Way as part of a regeneration project.

Group member Ali White said the maple tree was in "good health" and more than 12m (39ft) away from the nearest part of the Civic Centre building.

She said campaigners hoped the issue with the tree could be resolved while work continued inside the building.

"Following what happened on Armada Way we hope that the council will welcome a bit of scrutiny and transparency so the public can be reassured that they are making the best decisions possible on the management of our urban trees," White added.

The council said the removal of the maple tree along with a dead red oak was included in the 2020 planning consent agreed for the Civic Centre refurbishment and had been covered by the planning and listed building consultation for the revised application earlier this year.

"A total of 29 new trees will be planted as part of the scheme to mitigate any loss," a spokesperson said.

"However, in response to requests from members of the public, the cabinet member responsible (Matt Smith, housing, city centre regeneration and events) has asked to take a closer look at the removal to ensure that all alternative options have been considered.

"No felling will take place while this detail is reviewed."

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