Felled trees will be replaced

Was devastated to see the disappearance of the beautiful trees when I arrived at work this morning. Can't say I noticed much damage caused by the trees, but then I tend to appreciate their beauty.

Pleased to hear they will be replaced, I shall watch for this happening.

And thank you so much, Lisa, for being so quick on the case with this.

It is sad to hear that the trees have had to come down. It is good news that they will be replaced. The Town Council will also contact the land owners.

It is a shame to see beautiful trees go but you can't be too careful where safety issues are involved. Nice to see that the owners are replacing them promptly.

Haven't noticed any safety issues either. Was an experienced arboriculturist called in to give their opinion or were they just removed? Will they be replaced by saplings or mature trees? I suspect the former. As to not being too careful where safety issues are involved, - that didn't stop Cheshire East switching off important road lights.

I was driving by when I saw the beautiful trees being felled. Environmental vandalism. They have been part of Wilmslow's mature tree-lined landscape for as long as I remember. I walk by regularly and never saw any unsafe branches. Why knock all the line of trees down, in the height of the bird-nesting season too? I think this is more to do with the owners of the re-fronted building wanting to show it off to traffic. The bigger point is even the town council were not informed and how with such a wide parking and walkway, the building owners apparently claim the grass verge next to the road where the trees were is on private land, leaving just a few feet of pavement as the public walkway. This has been open public access for many years.
Many parts of Wilmslow centre have wide paving, which some properties claim as private with public access. We are seeing creeping use of paved areas being used as ugly parking spaces outside the Grove Arcade, Tesco’s and Grove lane. The Town and County council need to wake up and challenge this use of prime land in the centre. They need to do a centre-wide survey of what street paving is and isn’t claimed as private frontage and take steps to reclaim our streets as public ways, rather than a miserable few feet by the main road. What happens if the mature horse chestnut trees outside Hoopers and Sainsbury are next claimed for demolition? We are in danger of losing the character of our town centre.

Am also very sceptical about the supposed 'damage' or 'danger', I was with these trees five days a week for several years, I think I may have noticed any danger or damage somehow.

I sincerely hope they will be replaced with mature trees of the same type so I can appreciate their beauty in my lifetime as I doubt I will be around long enough to watch a sapling reach its full maturity.

Given that WTC are continuing to fund hanging baskets, boundary planters and roundabout planting in their attempts to gain further Awards for Wilmslow in Bloom, I regard this felling of mature Cherry trees on a key central Wilmslow road, albeit on Private land as a 'kick in the teeth'. There is no indication that replacements will be mature nor Cherry trees.
Shame on property owner.

I suspect that the owners finally realised that the shops could not be seen easily from the road. When the building was "made- over" they had a choice of moving the shop fronts forward and so catching more light or cutting down the trees. The former is expensive, the latter cheap.The reality is that this building needed a complete redesign and made lighter - definately not darker!

I'm really incensed by this. I drove past this morning (Wednesday) and they have not replaced the trees. They've put tall thin bushes in. I don't buy that there was problems with ALL of the trees.
Shame on you property owner. Its a disgrace to all chop these trees down just so you can improve the view of your newly refurbished building. Replace the cherry trees.

A safety issue? I'm sorry, I don't buy that.
More likely they'll be replaced by hideous trees specified by the same people who gave the green flag to the hideous, cheap plastic cladding being stuck onto the nearby buildings by way of a refurb.

Driving past this morning I had to do a double take. The replacement bushes look ridiculous! Absolutely no excuse for the removal of such beautiful trees.
The retail stores do not need to be seen better from the road, you only have to look at the longevity of some of the businesses on the parade.
Simply an act of vandalism!

Well said Brian! I too think it had something to do with the new owners of the shop. In my small way I will do my bit by boycotting said shop, as will my friends. To say they were all dangerous is a cop out and there were altermative ways to make them safe without chopping them down!....as some people have commented, this is nothing other than VANDALISM!!

Absolutely Diane. Surprised that Rod Menlove seemed most unconcerned about the damage to our towns streetscape. Something I shall bear in mind when voting tomorrow!

Is the felling of these trees symbolic of the way the conservative vote for our local (Not National) conservatives will go on Thursday ? alongside their intent not to protect greenbelt (previously well documented whip vote on this site) and not to properly address the parking issue by continued displacement …

Had to do a double-take today when I saw what the beautiful trees had been replaced with.

British Trees being destroyed, only to be replaced by imports. I wonder why such prominent trees that have become such a much loved feature of Wilmslw were not protected.
Very surprised that there are no TPOs.
No outrage from Councillors. One assumes that plans submitted to planners and passed by planning committe included this detail.
Ahem! Did they miss something?

Spot on Terry. How could trees with such prominence not be protected, or were they? Never mind, a small fine is all that could ensue.
Can our local councillors explain this to us? Or am I being naive!

Terry - according to the application for the "make-over" Cheshire East reference 14/5772M- there are no trees on the development site and no trees or hedges on land adjacent to it. If there had been there would have to have been a tree survey. So all in all we were simply imagining the trees and the planning officers at Sandbach had no idea they were there. The town council does not have that excuse.

I too was shocked when I drove past on Monday to witness the sheer destruction of such beautiful trees in full blossom. I fear this is once again a case of money talks. These big businesses just dominate our landscape with their awful developments. Yet again the councilors fail to respond, but why should they care, they only represent the local residents. Disgraceful.

If the cherry blossom trees were not under TPOs, I would have thought the large tree at the side was ...that is now merely a sad stump.

It upsets me every time I look out of the window now. I'm just glad I'm not the only one outraged at this wanton destruction.

An absolute disgrace!
Agree with previous comments. Why are replacements from "abroad"?
We have already imported diseases this way; locally sourced trees have to be the best way to go.
Can we have ASAP, a survey of the towns trees please? So We can safeguard All those other lovely trees that make Wilmslow a pleasing place. Tree Protection Orders would be much appreciated.

I whole heartedly agree with all comments. Their building was ugly and is finally getting a makeover, but to kill the trees !! Such a shame! where next !
They could have been replanted them in front of Tesco's run down building and sports bar. Seriously needs an update and a paint job
I just hope the new trees are equally pleasing.

I am still missing several cherry trees chopped down in the Carrs when the cheap play equipment was installed last year. They were lovely and provided useful shade. They were chopped down by the council for no apparent reason. Because they weren't in leaf or bloom the vandalism by the council went unnoticed.

Sometimes trees do need to be felled for safety reasons but it can't be that all these trees suddenly became unsafe and beyond maintenance in one go.

There is a very large and very rotten tree hanging heavily over the footpath to the rear of Gorsey Bank School that will to fall in the coming years. I just hope it is does not hurt anyone. I have reported it to the authorities, but no action has been taken to make it safe.

I walk past St Anne's Parade every day and am afraid that the strangely shaped beech trees cannot replace lovely cherries. I cannot accept that they were all dangerous to the extent that they had to be felled - surely some remedial work would have been a better solution. Now we have a dull grey building with wierd leaf towers - not in the least attractive.

I would like to see the return of blossom trees both here and outside 50 Alderley Road from where they were removed after the refurbishment.