28 May 2012
St Helens Green Party is demanding answers from United Utilities (UU) after the water company felled hundreds of mature Scots pine trees off Burrows Lane in Eccleston.
According to UU the trees, which have been a feature of the local landscape for generations, were felled “in the interests of public safety”. The company says that it was proving “impossible” to inspect the banks of nearby Prescot Reservoir because of the depth of pine needles and twigs, and claimed that tree roots threatened the reservoir structurally.
But Eccleston-based Green Party member, Francis Williams, who has known the area since his childhood, is demanding further answers from the company.
Francis says:
“This really is incredible arrogance on the part of United Utilities. They have drastically and recklessly altered the landscape without any explanation to, or consultation with, local residents and interest groups.
“We are particularly concerned about the potentially devastating effect to nesting birds and want to know if the company carried out a risk assessment – and what that risk assessment revealed.”
According to United Utilities, the reservoir has to be inspected every few years by an independent inspector and it was he who decided the trees must go.
But St Helens Green Party believes the company may have a case to answer under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 – one of the most important pieces of Wildlife legislation in this country.The Act makes it an offence to intentionally:
Francis continues:
“Whilst I can't argue with them if they say the trees are unsafe, they have been inspected regularly on a statutory basis over a long period and previous inspectors haven't ordered the felling. The last inspection was only five years ago.
“Local ornithologists have previously recorded rare woodland birds such as the Green Woodpecker and Common Crossbill in the area. We have therefore reported the matter to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) to see if UU has a case to answer and we are also interested in what local bird-watchers have to say about the tree-felling.
“UU makes great play of its environmental credentials, but it's difficult to see how the company can claim to protect natural resources and enhance the environment when it commits large-scale environmental destruction like this?”
UU says it has no plans to replace the trees.
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