Dear Friends,
CAMPAIGNERS WORKING TO SAVE WELLINGBOROUGH WALKS TREES RECIEVE PERMISSION TO PROCEED WITH OUR CASE IN THE HIGH COURT - PLEASE HELP US GET THERE.
As you may be aware up to 61 protected lime trees on 'the Walks' in Wellingborough are at risk of being felled to make way for a new road and roundabout expansion. These trees form part of the historic 'Wellingborough Walks' which, until very recently was made up of 189 protected lime trees, many of which are over 160 years old and some are over 400 years old. This is an avenue of trees revered by local people and considered as an historic monument within the Town, which is why they are protected by Tree Preservations Orders (TPOs),
In February 2023 residents heard that 61 of these trees were to be felled from the lower end of 'the Walks' (from the Dog and Duck Pub down to the River). We were aghast and people quickly swung into action to try and stop this act of environmental and historic vandalism.
Unfortunately, during the two weeks contractors were on site they felled 16 of the (TPO) protected trees, we have so far managed to protect 45 more from being felled. And with the developer still asserting their right to fell these too, residents came together to do everything we can to permanently save the remaining protected trees.
Wellingborough Walks Action Group (WWAG Ltd) - a not for profit organisation, was formed in March 2023 and in May 2023 we filed Judicial Review proceedings against North Northants Council (NNC), and the developer, Stanton Cross Developments Ltd (SCD), who are 'the interested party' in this case.
From May to August we attempted to save the trees through discussions out of court. Once those discussions concluded, the High Court reviewed our application for Judicial Review and on 18th October 2023 granted us permission to take our case against the Council to a full hearing at the High Court in London!!
Not only that, the judge stated that the case is a "matter of public importance”. We couldn’t agree more!!
As you can imagine we are delighted with this news and remain determined to have our day in court to put the details of this case before the Judge. Ultimately we hope this will save our treasured 'Wellingborough Walks Trees'.
HOW YOU CAN HELP....
To get to court we need to raise £30,000, plus a further £10,000 in case we loose. Clearly in dealing with such big entities the odds are stacked against us, but we believe there is enough in our case to be successful and so does our legal team.
We must acknowledge all the amazing contributions that so many people have already made and say a massive THANK YOU!! to all those who have already contributed to our campaign. You and the people of our town and beyond have been truly inspiring, helping us raise more than £44,000 so far. However, the work to get us to this point including the process of attempting to reach a mutually agreed solutions, has meant that we have already spent more than £39,000 of this fund.
So we are asking you, your friends, family, local organisations and communities everywhere, to help us get over the line, raise this money and get this case heard in the High Court, for the benefit of communities every where.
The case we are bringing fundamentally is about ensuring that TPO trees remain properly protected. We are challenging the Council around their decision making in this matter and how they allowed, and could still allow, this to happen when valid TPOs are in place.
Given this, we hope that you and people across the Country who hold the preservation of trees and our heritage dear (just like for the beautiful tree at Sycamore Gap), will feel inspired to support to this campaign and help us have our 'day in court' to SAVE WELLINGBOROUGH WALKS TREES.
Thank you for your kind support.
Marion xx