Cornwall’s oaks to last a millennium face the axe after just 13 years
Are 5 trees worth 400 jobs? Read on and let me know what you think. This article tells us:
An avenue of 100 English oak trees planted in Cornwall to mark the start of the millennium with the expectation they would last 1,000 years, is under threat from a supermarket and hotel development.
The plans, under examination by Cornwall council, mean that Millennium Avenue, that was intended to be still standing in the year 3000, could be threatened by the building of a new supermarket, pub, hotel and scores of homes just 13 years after it was planted.
Developer Wessex Investors, which intends to build the Morrisons supermarket, a Premier Inn hotel and up to 275 homes in the Pennygillam area of Launceston later this year, says there is no other safe and viable access to the site, which it claims was allocated for commercial use. Its managing director told The Independent that the development would create 400 jobs for the local area and that the company intends to remove no more than five trees during its refurbishment. “This has been on the drawing board for nearly two years and we are trying to accommodate everyone the best we can,” Andrew Pegg said. “While five will be removed under current plans, we intend to plant 93 trees in the new development.”