Bradford on Avon Town Council is currently carrying out felling and monolithing of around 50 to 60 trees in the ancient woodland, Becky Addy Wood.
The council is doing this because they claim the work is necessary for “public safety”. The council claims that up to 1,728 people walk through this wood every day.
The fact is that an average of fewer than 2 people walk through the wood per hour.
In carrying out these works, the council is even ignoring the advice of their own tree surveyor. The trees being worked on are in their surveyor’s “yellow” category – which means that the trees have tolerable risk and should therefore be left alone.
They are also ignoring the advice of one of the UK’s leading tree experts who last summer carried out 2 tree surveys in Becky Addy Wood and determined that no trees needed to be felled or monolithed, as well as the advice of Europe’s leading expert on ash dieback.
Last summer the council felled or monolithed around 19 trees – trees that tree experts said did not need to go.
There is a 1 in 11,000,000 chance of being killed by a falling tree or branch in the UK. In Becky Addy Wood the risk is lower still.
The work is going on right now. Please write to the mayor Katie Vigar ( ) and demand that the works stop now.