A Case Against Plymouth City Council Over The Armada Way Trees

by STRAW Plymouth

A Case Against Plymouth City Council Over The Armada Way Trees

by STRAW Plymouth
STRAW Plymouth
Case Owner
We are a campaign group called STRAW, fighting to save the remaining trees on Armada Way and attempting to hold Plymouth City Council accountable for their actions of the felling of our trees.
15
days to go
£28,417
pledged of £35,000 stretch target from 1,067 pledges
Pledge now
STRAW Plymouth
Case Owner
We are a campaign group called STRAW, fighting to save the remaining trees on Armada Way and attempting to hold Plymouth City Council accountable for their actions of the felling of our trees.
Pledge now

This case is raising funds for its stretch target. Your pledge will be collected within the next 24-48 hours (and it only takes two minutes to pledge!)

Latest: July 12, 2023

Plymouth City Council Want Judicial Review Withdrawn

Plymouth City Council have unsuccessfully applied to the courts to have the judicial review withdrawn.

PCC are still publicly defending their actions over the felling of the trees and the run up to it…

Read more

UPDATE

You may have seen the media coverage of the shocking destruction of our urban forest on Armada Way on the night of Tuesday March 14th. Thanks to a last-minute high court injunction, which we were able to serve at 1am, the felling was immediately stopped. Sadly it was too late for 117 trees which Plymouth City Council (PCC) managed to destroy in just 5 hours. 

It was truly unbelievable. We have now filed for a judicial review to hold PCC to account for what they have done and before this, we have a hearing to determine the fate of the dozen or so trees currently covered by the interim injunction. This will now, almost certainly be a long and expensive journey we had hoped to avoid, but the shocking actions of our council left this only option. We were covered by every major national newspaper on the 16th of March along with radio interviews with Jeremy Vine, Nick Ferrari, and Adrian Chiles and had TV interviews with BBC News, ITV News and Channel 5 News. We are proud that we have saved some of the trees and hope that the death of the others won't be for nothing. Their sacrifice will hopefully save other trees from the same fate and set a national precedent for other urban trees.

https://youtu.be/A4YbRDr3mLU

https://facebook.com/strawPlymouth

_______

We are raising money for legal support to bring a case against Plymouth City Council (PCC) who are planning on the almost entire removal of an urban forest in the very heart of our City Centre.

Our initial fund raiser is for £2,000 but for a judicial review we will be looking to raise £30,000

We started a campaign group called STRAW (Save the Trees of Armada Way) to try and urge the council to rethink the plans for Armada Way and to incorporate as many of the 137 healthy, mature, much loved trees as possible. The campaign has gathered much local support with the largest petition Plymouth has ever seen (currently 16,000 signatures), support from local and national tree and environmental experts, and forming a passionate and knowledgeable group of local people to come together to share our feelings and information about the issue.

PCC has failed to follow their own policies in many areas (critically public consultation) and has cut corners to rush through this scheme in order to receive some funding from the DfT.  Since starting the campaign group PCC has failed to respond properly to scrutiny requests and FOI requests and has embarked upon a "meaningful community engagement" which was not fit for purpose and probably a box ticking exercise. We are hoping that with some legal support we can bring a case against PCC to stop the crazy decision to remove these largely healthy mature trees.


Recent contributions

Be a promoter

Your share on Facebook could raise £26 for the case

I'll share on Facebook
Update 3

STRAW Plymouth

July 12, 2023

Plymouth City Council Want Judicial Review Withdrawn

Plymouth City Council have unsuccessfully applied to the courts to have the judicial review withdrawn.

PCC are still publicly defending their actions over the felling of the trees and the run up to it. Despite this, they do not want to defend themselves in the courts. 

Following much talk by the leader in a recent council meeting, claiming the judicial review is now academic, PCC applied to have the judicial review thrown out. A high court judge took just one day to respond, informing them that their application was 'misconceived', that the judicial review was not academic and should go ahead. The judge also told PCC that even if they are successful in the judicial review, they must cover all cost of their application.

Update 2

STRAW Plymouth

May 24, 2023

Permission Granted!

The court has granted us permission to go ahead with the judicial review on all our grounds!


In Plymouth, the council have agreed to redesign the plan and incorporate all the remaining trees. Although we will be keeping a close eye on this situation. 

Update 1

STRAW Plymouth

March 31, 2023

Injunction Held! The trees are safe for now!

As you may have heard, we have had our injunction, to keep the remaining trees on Armada Way, safe by a High Court Judge upheld! PCC wanted to over-turn the injunction and finish what they started.

We will be asking for permission to have the judicial review soon and believe this will then take place in 3-4 months. 

Thank you so much to everyone who has donated and made this (really scary) legal challenge possible!


    There are no public comments on this case page.