Residents’ anger over tree removal

Residents in Westbury say they have spent thousands of pounds over the years maintaining trees near their homes, only for Wiltshire Council to cut them down with just a week’s notice.

Work began earlier this year on a new pedestrian walkway along the northern side of Frogmore Road, stretching from its junction with Rosefield Way towards Slag Lane.

Ahead of construction starting in February, what was termed ‘extensive vegetation removal’ took place, including the removal of several trees along Frogmore Road.

One resident claims he and his neighbours had been told since 2002 that the trees were their responsibility. Their homes back onto Frogmore Road.

He said, “All of a sudden in January, we got a week’s notice that the council were going to start work on the road. It turned out they were going to take all the trees out.

“The properties here have always maintained those trees. We’ve spent a lot of money to do so. I called the highways team at Wiltshire Council in 2023 and was told the trees were nothing to do with them, and that they were our responsibility.

“We’ve lost privacy now the trees are gone. They stood a good 20 or 25ft tall and in the summer formed a lovely noise break from the road. They also blocked light from other properties.”

The resident also claims fence supports have been removed as a result of the work on the footpath, and that litter and dog poo have been left behind.

He added, “Contractors did come along and put more supports in. But it’s not upright, it looks a mess. There are fences leaning toward the road now. No consultation ever took place with us until we got a letter through the post-box about the work.

“It’s bad, but it feels like there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

When contacted, Parvis Khansari, corporate director of place at Wiltshire Council, said the trees may never have been owned by the residents, but instead may be owned by the original developer of nearby Bramble Drive.

He said, “The request for a pedestrian footway was first raised by Westbury Town Council, through the Westbury Area Board and then through the Local Highways and Footways Improvement Group.

“When the project was prioritised by the Area Board and funding was sought, a notification of the forthcoming works was distributed amongst residents likely to be affected. This took place in early January this year, plus a press release on our news webpages.

“The provision of the new footway is within the confines of the public highway and to accommodate it, substantial vegetation removal was required. Previously it was believed that the historic hedge line formed the property boundaries on Bramble Drive, but it is now believed that the tree line is neither owned by the residents nor within the boundary of the public highway. It therefore may be owned by the original developer of Bramble Drive. Our highway officers have proactively assisted.”

The pedestrian walkway scheme was brought forward through the council’s Local Highway and Footway Improvement Groups (LHFIG) programme and Westbury Town Council.

At a recent meeting of Westbury Town Council’s policy and resources committee, a discussion was held surrounding what the verge behind the new pedestrian path on Frogmore Road will look like once construction is complete.

It was suggested that topsoil and grass seeding could be implemented to “ensure low-cost future maintenance and no encroachment onto the footway reducing its width.” Councillors discussed that trees would be tricky to reintroduce to Frogmore Road, as their weight could damage fences backing onto homes.

Town councillors agreed to go back to Wiltshire Council to seek advice on the best course of action for managing the verge behind the new path.