THE felling of hundreds of tress has taken place to allow for a new development of more than 130 homes in Ludlow.

They were felled to enable the construction of 137 homes off Foldgate Lane.

The tress have been removed in order to provide good visibility from the road.

This will enable the creation of a T-junction at the site of the Crest Nicholson development.

Whilst hundreds of new tress will eventually be planted as a replacement, it will be many years before they are able to store as much carbon as those that have been removed.

When the original plans were submitted it had been said that there would only have to be a small numbers of trees removed but Highways England then insisted on a much larger felling to enable good visibility.

This tree removal is permitted but is much more extensive than envisaged when the plans from Richborough Estates were approved on appeal to the planning inspectorate.

Andy Boddington, Ludlow councillor for Shropshire North, says that this was not picked up either by planners or an Inspector when the application went to appeal.

“We have lost more than 100 trees in the last few days,” he said.

“New trees will be planted in their place. But it will be four or five decades before they store as much carbon, host as much wildlife or muffle the traffic noise from the A49.

“The planning system has failed us. It has failed the environment.

“Now we have lost hundreds of trees in an age of climate emergency and a biodiversity crisis.

“It will be decades before the replacement trees the developer plans to plant mature. Until then, we store less carbon and do little for biodiversity.”

Mr Boddington said that he recognises the need for more homes but that building has to have regard for the environment.

“We need more homes but we must build them in a way that respects our environment,” he said.

“That means knowing about the impact of developments as the beginning, not when it is too late to challenge them.”