Council attacked over failure to consult on tree removal

A woodland charity has submitted a tough objection to plans to cut down 126 trees as part of a controversial £12.9m road widening scheme.

The Woodland Trust says Kirklees Council’s proposals to cut congestion by widening the A629 Halifax Road in Huddersfield are “inconsistent with national planning policy”.

And it says the council has “failed to deliver an open and honest consultation” on the scheme.

In a six-page letter the conservation charity, which aims to protect native woods, trees and wildlife for the future, says its concerns surround the significant loss of trees and the transparency of the consultation.

Its comments come just a week after it emerged that the council’s own tree officer said the scheme breaks both Kirklees and national planning guidance.

The authority has been urged to return to the drawing board with growing cross-party support for a U-turn.

The council says the massive project at Edgerton – dubbed the the A629 Halifax to Huddersfield Corridor Improvement Scheme – will lessen congestion, poor air quality and extensive delays.

Having considered the impact of the scheme on potentially ancient/veteran trees, the trust says the project “should not be taken forward on the grounds it does not comply with national planning policy”.

Whilst the council has pledged to plant more than 700 new trees to compensate for the loss of those being chopped down, the trust says the offer is not sufficient.

It says: “New planting simply cannot replace the value lost when mature trees are removed, and such planting can never replace the loss of ancient and veteran trees.

“This large-scale loss of trees from a council scheme is simply inappropriate and alternative solutions must be found to prevent the loss of these trees.”

It also considers the plan to be “not consistent” with the council’s own policy within its Local Plan.

In raising concerns about transparency the trust points to inconsistencies around the publishing of reports online with some tree reports – known as Arboricultural Impact Assessments or AIAs – given file names that make them difficult to identify.

The report that appeared last week – described by critics of the scheme as “damning” – was filed under consultation responses and was titled “no additional annotation”.

The trust says that by separating documents into different files it had not made it clear where they can be found.

It says: “These two matters may not appear significant, though they have great
relevance in respect of openness and clarity for those wanting to digest the relevant information on the impact of the scheme on trees.

“While we accept that the above may be a mistake on the council’s part, these errors are simply not conducive to an open and transparent consultation process, as such errors make it difficult for the public to identify and assess the documents of interest and relevance to them, particularly those individuals who may not usually know what to look for.”

The council has consistently defended its plans for the massive scheme, which is Phase 5 in the larger A629 Halifax to Huddersfield Corridor Improvement Scheme costing £120m in total to deliver, and has repeatedly refused to pause it.

 

Article originally posted on Yorkshire Live

The Institute cannot confirm the accuracy of this story or confirm that it presents a balanced view. If you feel this is inaccurate we would welcome your perspective and evidence that this is the case.

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