‘They do listen’: Residents’ campaign saves ten mature trees

A petition signed by hundreds of people prompted fresh assessments of trees on Herringthorpe Valley Road, and secured a promise to fill gaps left by felling stretching back up to 15 years, according to campaign organiser Andrew Hayter.

He praised Rotherham Council for working with residents to find a compromise.

“If you stand up, and you’ve got a loud enough voice, then they do listen,” he said.

The campaign began after residents heard chainsaws and discovered a large tree was being cut down without advance warning.

Concerned that more would follow, they demanded evidence explaining why the trees needed to go and whether pruning or other work could save them.

The petition attracted 467 valid signatures and is due before full council on Wednesday, November 4.

But Mr Hayter said talks with council officers had already brought results.

Of 20 trees reassessed following the petition, he said ten would now be retained and maintained. The remaining ten would be removed and replaced.

“The petition has done what it needed to do, it’s mobilised people and got the council to listen,” he said.

“It’s a win, we wanted to maintain what we had.”

Mr Hayter said two further trees had been felled since the campaign began. However, council officers had met residents and shown them evidence of disease and fungi which meant those trees posed an immediate danger.

Residents had always accepted that genuinely dangerous trees might need to be removed. Their concern was whether every reasonable option to keep them had been explored.

The discussions have also opened the door to replacing trees lost long before the current dispute.

“A lot of people were disgruntled the trees were cut down and not replaced,” Mr Hayter said.

He said the council had committed to replacement planting within six months, with residents offered a choice of five species and larger young trees, described to him as mature saplings.

There could also be lasting reminders of the old trees. Mr Hayter said options discussed included keeping pieces for sentimental reasons, making a bench and turning stumps into artworks.

He acknowledged the outcome involved compromise, but welcomed the prospect of fewer trees being felled and replacements going in.

“I’m confident they will come good,” he said.

The council previously said felling would be a last resort, with decisions based on professional assessments.