Campaigners Occupy Shoreham Tree To Save It From The Chop

Campaigners in Shoreham have occupied a tree to stop it from being felled.

The 30-year-old Poplar sits between the Duke of Wellington pub and the former Civic Centre site on Brighton Road.

Developer Hyde gained permission to fell the poplar tree in March this year to make way for a 159 home development.

But campaigners from the Shoreham Poplar Front have occupied the branches and say they won’t move until the tree is saved.

They built a treehouse at the end of August and lead campaigner Darcy Harrison, 51, said the group would stay with the tree night and day.

“We have a rota for the next three weeks and last night one volunteer slept in the tree,” he said.

Campaigners Have Occupied A Tree In Shoreham, Photo By Darcy Harrison

Mr Harrison says the developer has ‘refused to have any sort of conversation’.

“Hyde are not listening to us,” he said, “They’re completely ignoring us.

“We’re not extinction rebellion, we’re not seasoned tree occupiers – we’re local people who are fed up.

“We completely support the building of new homes but we think the tree should continue to benefit everybody by absorbing carbon and offering flood protection.

“We’ve got lots of people who are willing to chain themselves to that tree when the time comes.”

SPF campaigners

The developer has promised to plant at least 20 replacement trees once the poplar is felled and says it has worked with Adur District Council to ensure adequate tree planting throughout the site.

But Mr Harrison does not trust that the tree planting will go ahead in full and says that ‘no amount of new trees’ will make up for the loss of the poplar.

ADC’s technical services officer said that the proposed location for the new trees would be ‘inappropriate’ and raised a holding objection to the planning application.

Hyde claims that keeping the tree would mean sacrificing several affordable homes within the scheme.

The majority of properties will be shared ownership and the remaining 60 will be for social rent by Adur residents.

But the SPF is calling on the developer to ‘reconfigure the design’ so the tree can be saved.

“[Hyde] claim that five dwellings will be lost if they alter the design- we refute that,” said Mr Harrison.

Shoreham Poplar Front, Photo by Judy Green

Responding to the group’s concerns, lead development manager at the Hyde Group Andy Hunt, said:

“We understand the depth of feeling about the poplar tree being felled.

“Our proposed scheme will allow for a substantial tree planting programme along the Brighton Road and Ham Road boundaries of our site, which will improve the landscape and also provide support to wildlife.

“Poplar trees have a typical lifespan of about 30 to 50 years and eventually have to be felled to protect local buildings.

“The development will provide 159 much needed social and affordable homes for local people in Shoreham.”