EPPING SOCITY PETITION HELPS SAVE ICONIC REDWOOD - WATCH NOW

The Epping Society is absolutely delighted by last nights decision to save the Iconic Redwood Tree which had been earmarked for destruction.

Be in no doubt that this decision was largely down to nearly 1,200 of you who signed our petition in just 1 week. The petition was duly submitted to councillors together with a number of comments we have received.

To their credit Councillors took due note of public sentiment and excised a high level of diligence in their comments and questions to the Tree Officer who had indeed recommended reluctantly that the tree be felled.

Such was public interest in this matter that The Epping Society has been on BBC Essex twice. The first time was on Monday appearing on Ben Fryer's morning show. If you missed it you can click on the link below.

Click Me For BBC Essex Clip

Charles Geddes, with the battle won appeared again today with Ben and we will post up the clip of that interview tomorrow so keep an eye out.

The Society is sympathetic to the plight of the nearby flats which seen to have suffered some damage but some very astute questioning by Councillor Mathews quickly established that there was no 100% certainty that the Redwood was the actual cause of any subsidence. This one factor established the fact that an ancient tree could potentially by cut down without complete certainly.

It was also established that other other solutions such as underpinning did exist. One councillor was of the opinion that an additional floor had been added to the building at some point in the past which could have been the cause especially if the foundations were not designed to accommodate the additional weight.

Christine Burt, Epping Society Chair was given a 3 min slot to present the Society's case to save the tree. She stressed that the tree had existed long before the flats, it was perfectly healthy and die to its age and rarity shoud be retained at all costs.

Council Leader Chris Whitbread said 'It's rare to discuss a tree that's In such a prominent position and of such quality.'

Councillor Clive Amos asked why a similar application had been submitted for this tree 10 years ago and wihdrawn'

We have the full recording of this part of the meeting. It really is well worth watching, especially if you have not attended or seen how such a meeting in conducted.

Thank you one again for your continued support and please do consider joining The Epping Society from our homepage.