'Great local opposition' to proposed felling of horse chestnut tree in Earls Barton set to be discussed by North Northamptonshire Council tonight

The proposed felling of a much-loved horse chestnut tree in Earls Barton to make way for a new wall is set to be discussed by North Northants Council at a meeting at Wellingborough’s Swanspool House this evening (May 24).

The wall, currently standing near Knights Close in Earls Barton, is in a state of disrepair, and in order to rebuild a structurally sound alternative, it requires the removal of the horse chestnut that sits just a few feet behind the wall, a listed structure.

The application also notes the intention to regrade a section of the land behind the wall to ensure it returns to a being a boundary wall (a dividing structure between two pieces of land) only and not a retaining wall (a wall that splits two sections of land that have different ground levels).

In the agenda for tonight’s meeting, a North Northamptonshire Council landscape officer says: “The horse chestnut tree which is within approximately three metres of the listed retaining wall and no distance from the bowing stone wall on the boundary of Knights Close is undoubtedly of outstanding visual amenity value.

"The tree was inspected from ground level and a climbing inspection to assess for decay in cavities on old pruning wounds was recommended.

"The presence of major dead wood on the west side was noted and the fact that the tree leans towards the highway.

"Since the VTA (visual tree assessment) was carried out some areas of dark staining have appeared on the main trunk which could be an early indication that the tree is infected with bleeding canker. If this is the case the life expectancy of the tree would be likely to be reduced.

“This disease appears to be contributing to the demise of another tree in the village at the present time and many horse chestnuts nationwide have been lost to it."

There have been two letters of support from the same household and 67 letters of objection, with NNC acknowledging the ‘strong local opposition’.

A petition titled ‘Save the Earls Barton Conker Tree’ has been launched, currently with almost 800 signatures, many of which note the ‘heritage’ of the ‘beautiful’ and ‘memorable’ trees, and Earls Barton Parish Council has objected to plans, citing the ‘ecological value’ of the horse chestnut.

A NNC senior built heritage advisor added: “The Planning Act 1990 states that Local Planning Authorities have a statutory duty to ‘have special regard to the desirability of preserving the [listed] building or its setting or any features of special architectural or historic interest which it possesses’ and to ensure that ‘special attention shall be paid to desirability of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of that [conservation] area.’

NNC insists that it has a duty to protect the setting of the Earls Barton conservation area, so has been liaising with the applicant to come up with a replacement. There is an intention of planting a magnolia tree ‘of around four metres in height’ in the horse chestnut’s absence.