There’s no such thing as ‘business as usual’ for Ecology, but this summer has perhaps been more unusual than most. Since the start of August we’ve been campaigning to save a 250-year-old lime tree that stands next to our boundary wall, on the site of a new Aldi supermarket. We’ve taken direct action, galvanised hundreds of people to protest via social media, featured everywhere from Professional Aboriculturalist to the Daily Mail, and been touched by the support of our members and friends.
We wanted to explain a little more about the campaign and the next steps – as well as how you can help to protect this special tree.
UPDATE: at 1.42pm on 26 August, Aldi went ahead with the felling of the Common Lime tree. We have issued a formal statement on the issue in our press releases area. You can see images of the tree and the aftermath, as well as a video of the felling, on our Facebook page.
Why does one tree matter so much?
This isn’t just a tree; it’s an ecosystem, providing a habitat and food for a wide range of insects and birds (not to mention our local bat population). Lime leaves are popular food for many moths and attract aphids, which in turn provide food for birds. The flowers provide nectar for honey bees, who also drink the aphids’ honeydew deposits. The trees improve the nutrition and structure of the soil and help to absorb excess water.
But the significance of this tree isn’t just ecological. The lime is 250 years old and an important feature of the local area, one of a long line of trees that we believe once formed an avenue to a local hall. It’s a piece of history that should belong to the local community.
We can put it no better than Bradford Council’s own tree specialist, who commented:
Removal of this tree is totally unacceptable.
The ecological and historical significance of the tree is reflected in its Tree Preservation Order, which should prevent its felling unless this cannot be avoided. And we believe it can be avoided.
The planning documents for the supermarket suggest a dilemma: either build the development near to the boundary wall and chop the tree down or build the development on a flood risk area. There is no reason why this is either/or, if the development is designed to work with the site. To quote the Council’s tree specialist again:
It is firstly apparent that the site layout has been drawn up before the tree survey. This brings into question the likelihood of the important treescape being adequately considered as part of the proposals.
The fact that the Tree Preservation Order appears to have carried little weight in the process seems symptomatic of the priority given to private profit over community and environmental gain.
Why now?
This is the first time we’ve campaigned publicly about felling the tree, but it’s not the first time we’ve stated our opposition to it. We objected to the proposals as part of the formal planning process, but our objections did not affect the Council’s decision.
Once the planning application had been passed, we wanted to understand timescales for the work before deciding whether and how to take further action. Normally, there are conditions to fulfil before work such as tree felling can take place, and we had assumed that Aldi would keep their neighbours informed about any works that might impact on them.
This wasn’t the case and on Monday 1 August we noticed contractors preparing to fell the tree. We had to make a quick decision: protest, or let them go ahead? In the knowledge that they were likely to need access to our land and concerned about the lack of transparency of the process, we refused to grant them access, took up a position under the tree’s branches that reached onto our land, and started spreading the word via social media.
The response of many local people convinced us we’d done the right thing: they were shocked that the tree was due to come down and felt they should have been notified. Some even came to the site to see what they could do. We think this reflects a real lack of engagement on Aldi’s part – we would have hoped that they would try to build a positive relationship with their local community from the outset. While they may have adhered to the formal planning process, the complexity and technicality of the process means genuine local involvement needs proactive communication and a willingness to listen to different viewpoints.
Why hasn’t the tree been felled yet?
We’re not entirely sure, because Aldi haven’t told us. We’re really disappointed that their approach seems to be to avoid dialogue, rather than to try to understand our concerns. Our direct action and online campaigning seemed to cause some hesitation in going ahead, which gave us more time to review the planning conditions. With the help of local residents, we’ve identified that Aldi are required to do a number of things before the tree can come down, most importantly undertaking a survey of the tree for bat roosts.
However, the timescales for these conditions are unclear, so we’re having to work on the assumption that the tree can still come down at any moment.
What do we want Aldi to do?
Our ultimate goal is for Aldi to replan the site so that the tree can remain. We don’t feel any other outcome is justifiable when the proposals are considered from the standpoint of long-term economic, environmental and social concerns.
Since Aldi have formal planning permission to remove the tree, we know that this outcome is unlikely – although people power has been known to overcome huge challenges in the past.
If we cannot convince Aldi to retain the tree, there are a number of things they can do to minimise the ecological impact of its removal:
- They should undertake a detailed survey of the tree, carried out by a qualified ecologist, to ensure that there are no bat roosts present
- Works on the tree should be delayed until the end of the nesting season (after September) and the tree fully checked for birds’ nests before felling
- They should ensure that the trees planted to replace the lime are of equal or greater CAVAT value than the lime tree which is removed (CAVAT stands for Capital Asset Value for Amenity Trees and is a method for managing trees as public assets, by calculating their financial value)
- They should build habitats for birds, bats, insects and small animals into the site (such as nesting boxes and bee hotels).
We also want Aldi to learn from this experience for future stores. We hope that community consultation and preservation of important natural features will be a higher priority in future.
What can I do to help?
It’s still worth contacting Aldi to share your views with them, by one of the following means:
- Twitter: @AldiUK
- Facebook: AldiUK
- Email: customer.service@aldi.co.uk
- Phone: 0800 042 0800
When you contact Aldi, you may want to ask them:
- Why they feel they have no other option but to fell the tree
- Whether, if they plan to go ahead with the tree felling, they have plans to carry out a survey for bat roosts (in accordance with European law)
- Whether they will follow all the recommendations in the ecologist’s report on the development, including delaying felling until after the nesting season
- Whether they will ensure that the replacement trees have an equal or greater CAVAT value than the original tree
- Whether they will install new habitats for birds, insects and small animals across the site.
