A TREE expert from Ellesmere says he has been left upset by a decision to cut down a 250-year-old oak tree.
Rob McBride, who is a tree hunter, says the oak tree close to Newnes Brook – near Beech Drive – was felled this week by landowners Grocott Development.
Rob says he has been in touch with the company who he says insisted to him there were no plans for development on the land but admitted he was left saddened by the felling of the tree.
He also insisted it did not have a tree preservation order (TPO) on it.
He said: “Ironically it was on the same day as Tree of the Year and I was being asked to do some media for it.
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“I was alerted to it by Facebook posts saying how sad it was to see it felled, with one lady saying it had been her view for 30 years.
“I went to see for myself that it was down and people were chopping it up – for me it’s very personal as it was a big part of my childhood.
“We used to play in the brook and then run around the tree so it’s pretty personal for me.
“I was pretty upset that it was down.
“I spoke to a boss at Grocott Developments and they told me that they had no development plans for that site.
“But they lots of people there taking soil samples and they had put a lot of markers down so something must be happening.
“We had a 10-minute chat and they were keen to tell me they understood their corporate responsibility.
“The tree wasn’t under a tree preservation order (TPO) but it’s 250 years old.”
Rob says he has reported the felling and called for better protection laws for ‘ancient and veteran trees’.
He added: “I’ve reported it to the Forestry Commission so it’s with them now.
“It has to be noted to anyone saying it was rotting – older, veteran trees hollow out in order to survive but this tree was not rotting.
“It was doing its best to survive and would have been there for another 100 years, in my opinion.
“Planners are now starting to take these trees into their developments as it gives houses a higher value.
“We need way better protection laws for our ancient and veteran trees.”
Grocott declined to comment.
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