Getting to the root of it

Adam Hewitt • Last updated 1 Feb 2008 12:45 0 Comments

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ANCIENT trees are under threat from builders say campaigners who are calling for them to be protected.

A difference between two councils in how they protect trees means that some specimens in the grounds of Reading University are shielded by Preservation Orders, but others are not.

University bosses says they will safeguard all the trees while the Whiteknights campus is being redeveloped but members of the Green Party want them to go further.

Rob White, Reading East Green parliamentary candidate, said: "The fact that Wokingham Council has seen merit in putting Tree Preservation Orders on trees in its half of the campus, yet Reading hasn't, puts major concerns into my head about the future of the Reading trees."

Many trees on the Wokingham borough side of the Whiteknights campus have Preservation Orders on them, but those on the town side of the university grounds are protected only by informal agreements with Reading council.

Notable trees include a Tulip tree on the Engineering lawn, a Cut-Leaf Walnut near Food Studies, and a Small Leaved Lime on the western corner of the Chemistry Department.

Many of the ancient and remarkable trees would be impossible to replace if lost to building work as part of the campus regeneration.

Mr White said the university has behaved responsibly with its trees, but added: "As universities are forced to become more business-like, with profitability as their main concern, I fear conservation and improvement of the grounds will take a back seat to new buildings, car parks and roads, as we are now starting to see with the Whiteknights Development Plan.

"History and the recent news is littered with examples of voluntary agreements which have been broken by businesses in the pursuit of profit.

"I would like to see the council working with the university to ensure that all appropriate trees have Tree Preservation Orders placed on them."

University spokeswoman Lucy Ferguson said a conservation area protected many of the trees, and that many others are protected by the Forestry Act.

She added: "Trees eligible for TPO status must be visible from public land, so many trees would not qualify, but the university still applies to Reading Borough Council when it wants to carry out work, and this goes to public consultation for six weeks. It could be argued this gives greater protection as decisions regarding TPOs are at the discretion of the local authority."

Reading borough planning leader Cllr Tom Crisp said: "The joint working arrangement means the university would contact the council if works are needed to be done or any trees were affected by a planning application.

"Given the environmental nature of the university's work and their international reputation in these fields, it would seem churlish to suggest that they would act as though they were a bunch of cowboy builders.

"They have acted responsibly in the past and there is no reason to think that will change.

"Sadly this appears to be more about scaremongering and profile-raising, and motivated purely by self interest."

This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 24 Jan 08

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