Dear All,

The last petition update ended by saying, 

"The voice of the people will hold Cornwall County Council to account".

Yesterday, 28th March 2025, Cornwall County Council released the following statement;

"Thank you for your recent petition regarding the trees in Trelawney Road, Falmouth.

Attached is an update for your information in response to your petition.

Yours sincerely,

Cornwall Highways | Network Management

"Following discussions with partners, Cornwall Council has decided to pause plans to remove trees from Trelawney Road in Falmouth.

The decision follows the expression of strong community concerns regarding the work and will allow for a full review of the practical steps to carry out the works whilst being considerate of the legal constraints that the council is working within.

The removal will now be paused for at least three months and any future work will require a new application for a road closure notice.

Although we cannot comment further at present, Cornwall Council will be communicating with community representatives before finally deciding how to proceed.

Inspector Milburn added: “We are working with the council and are supportive of the decision to take some time to consider how to proceed before any further action is taken.”

“The removal will now be paused for at least three months and any future work will require a new application for a road closure notice. Although we cannot comment further at present, Cornwall Council will be communicating with community representatives before finally deciding how to proceed.”

So,

On behalf of the Stop the Chop! campaign, we are delighted that Cornwall County Council has at last made the sensible decision to pause its plans to fell the three healthy and protected trees standing proudly in the conservation area on Trelawney Road, Falmouth.

It has taken a lot of time, effort and people power to get to this place. If the Council had been left to its own devices the trees would have been felled last year with hardly anyone knowing about it. We have saved these lime trees three times now and finally the Council has paid some attention to the people who elect them.

However, this decision is a pause as per the Council's statement 'for a full review of the practical steps to carry out the works whilst being considerate of the legal constraints that the Council is working within'. It is not therefore a definitive change of plan. 

Our fundamental question to the Council remains. Where is the evidence showing that its proposals to fell three healthy and protected trees is proportionate? The Council undertook to provide an 'independent assessment' to the police on 17th March 2025 but this has yet to be seen by anyone.

So, exactly how did the remedy of one root prune with root barrier installment made in 2022, as can be viewed on the Council's planning portal, change to the felling of three healthy trees in 2024/25 with no evidence provided and an FOI withheld?

Meanwhile, the fact that the trees are still standing is a testament to members of the public working together to get to the truth. Stop the Chop! would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has been involved with a special thank you to Paul Powlesland, the brilliant environmental barrister.

We would also like to commend our local police who made some very sound calls in difficult situations. 

We are, of course happy to meet with Cornwall County Council as per its statement and sooner rather than later in order to have meaningful input regarding the review process. Stop the Chop! will continue to press the Council to act with much more transparency and openness in all matters relating to the Trelawney trees than it has to date. 

For now, these beautiful old trees live on !

Once again, thank you everybody for your continued support and keep talking about this issue because it's not over yet!

Stop the Chop!