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18
Dec 2024
Bettys gets go-ahead to fell and replace woodland trees
Bettys and Taylors Group has been granted planning permission to fell seven trees on land it owns in Harrogate – and plant 20 more.
The area affected is a long, thin patch of woodland stretching south from Hookstone Chase to the northern edge of Stonefall Cemetery. The site borders Panhandle Park to the east and properties on Plompton Drive to the west.
The trees to be felled are four ash trees, two silver birches and a hawthorn.
According to the tree inspection report submitted in support of the application, many of the ash trees on the site are suffering from chalara ash dieback disease, and some of the oaks are deteriorating due to either canker or acute oak decline disease.
The approved application also covers the pruning of three English oaks, six hawthorns, a wild cherry, a cherry laurel and a Leyland cypress.
It also provides for the planting of six crab apple trees, four field maples, four lime (linden) trees, four wild cherry trees, and two sessile oaks, as well as the flailing of cotoneaster and bramble scrub.
According to the tree inspection report, which was prepared by York consultancy Enviroscope, the area comprises secondary woodland on the former railway embankment and is not classified as ancient woodland. None of the trees on the site are listed as ancient, veteran or notable trees on the Woodland Trust’s Ancient Tree Inventory.
According to the council’s planning report, the trees “contribute greatly to the character of the area, softening the built form”.
It continues:
Whilst the proposed tree pruning and scrub removal would be limited in impact to the amenity value of the trees, the felling of trees would have a detrimental impact, therefore the proposed replanting of 20 new trees is considered appropriate to mitigate against loss of amenity to the area over time.
The ash dieback fungus was first reported in the UK in 2012 and has taken hold quickly since then. It is estimated that its effects will cost the £15 billion.
Acute oak decline was first defined in the UK in 2014. It involves a combination of factors which cause oaks to become stressed and infected by bacteria which may cause bleeding cankers.
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