Plans to cut down much-loved trees in a small street near Greenwich station have been halted after council officers intervened to place a protection order on them.

Hyde Housing had applied to the council to fell the trees in Straightsmouth, and in a nearby courtyard, claiming that they were a threat to the railway line and a boundary wall.

After residents began a campaign against the plans, and Creekside Labour councillor Calum O’Byrne Mulligan intervened, Hyde said it would fell only one tree in Straightsmouth and cut back the rest – but refused to withdraw its planning application for further talks. 

The residents feared that rather than just trimming back dead wood, Hyde would give the trees a more severe cut-back, running the view they had enjoyed for years.

Now Greenwich’s planning officers have raised objections to Hyde’s plans and slapped protection orders on all but one of the trees, effectively blocking the housing association’s plans. The orders could be made permanent within the next six months. 

Neighbours are now optimistic that this means the trees will be saved, although Hyde could still come back with a new application.

Three people in front of trees
Neighbours Tom Turner, Marny Godden and Eren Ozden with the trees. Image: The Greenwich Wire

“We are over the moon that the community’s efforts saved the trees,” Marny Godden, who lives opposite the trees, told The Greenwich Wire. “We’re so grateful to everyone who took action. As I’m about to have a baby this June the prospect of having to bear witness to beautiful trees being needlessly chopped down was a bit harrowing. But now my baby can enjoy them just as much as us. This has shown me that if we come together and take action as a community, we can make a positive difference.”

Eren Ozden, a neighbour and environmental engineer, said that Hyde and its representatives had told residents not to bother complaining to the council as “these are complex matters and nothing can be done”.

“It’s important to remind ourselves that ‘I had to do something because if I don’t, nobody else will,’” he said.  

Godden told The Greenwich Wire last week that they were “lovely trees. I’ve seen a robin in there, there’s nests in those trees”

“These trees mean a lot to me, because they lift my spirits,” she said. “You can hear the birds from five o’clock in the morning, and it’s lovely to be a Londoner and hear birds.”

If Hyde comes back with a new application to knock down the trees, it will have to include more detailed information about why it wants to take such drastic action.

Hyde did not respond when asked for comment by The Greenwich Wire last week.

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