Save Billi Oaks! Stop Axa axing them!
Save Billi Oaks! Stop Axa axing them!
Latest: Nov. 20, 2025
Save Billi Oaks! A reprieve - but more legal work needed to win
Dear Supporter
There's a reprieve for the Billingshurst oaks while the Parish Council reconsiders – you have made it possible!
Save Billi Oaks are pleased to report that at its last meeting on 5th Nove…
Read morePlease help us save two magnificent oak trees from destruction!
Save Billi Oaks! is a group of Billingshurst residents who want to stop Axa from cutting down two healthy 200-year old oak trees in Willow Drive, Billingshurst, West Sussex. Axa's plans are both flawed and unacceptable... help us fight this!
Axa want to cut down the trees to settle a subsidence claim despite there being other remedies available. Our research reveals that the reports being relied on to permit the felling are flawed. The trees are on Billingshurst Parish Council land and Axa is holding the Parish Council responsible for the subsidence. This is a pattern being repeated nationally, with insurers exploiting the current legal system that makes trees expendable to bully cash-strapped councils into cutting down trees.
Removing two cherished oaks is emotionally devastating for locals; it’s also absurdly stupid to remove such trees. They are powerhouses of biodiversity, flood resistance, climate resilience and wellbeing. By continuing to remove trees like this, we are literally digging ourselves deeper into crisis!
We are raising £1500 for legal fees to persuade Billingshurst Parish Council that it is not liable for the subsidence and, even if it is, other solutions must be considered. Richard Buxton Solicitors (RBS) believe there is an arguable case that the Parish Council is not liable for the nuisance alleged by AXA and, anyway, that the decision to fell is unlawful.
RBS is a specialist environmental law firm with experience of fighting tree cases in the face of unreasonable demands of insurers, most recently in Cambridge where the City Council was persuaded that it was wrong to give permission to fell historic trees on a public space said to be damaging a property. RBS also dealt with an historic oak tree in Essex where a root barrier was installed and a similar complex issue in London, again all in the face of insurers blaming trees for damage or not looking for better solutions than felling them.
We need your support: please contribute and share this page now!
Our target is to raise £1500 to cover immediate legal fees but we have a 'stretch target' of £3000 to cover additional costs if needed. Legal action as such is not anticipated at this stage, but it is vital the Parish Council reconsiders its position urgently.
Thank you!
Save Billi Oaks!
Nov. 20, 2025
Save Billi Oaks! A reprieve - but more legal work needed to win
Dear Supporter
There's a reprieve for the Billingshurst oaks while the Parish Council reconsiders – you have made it possible!
Save Billi Oaks are pleased to report that at its last meeting on 5th November, Billingshurst Parish Council voted to defer felling the two oak trees on Willow Drive, while they obtain further information. Councillors were convinced by the case made by our solicitor Richard Buxton in which he highlighted the lack of sound evidence to justify felling the trees lawfully.
Our group also provided evidence that there are likely to be bat roosts in the trees, destruction of which would be a criminal offence (without a proper bat survey and, if evidence of bats is found, permission from Natural England).
At the meeting, we made it clear to Billingshurst Parish Council that if they voted to destroy the trees, our group would use every means at our disposal to challenge this decision.
We are grateful to Richard Buxton, who has worked above and beyond, to help us convince the Parish Council to reconsider.
A resident has generously agreed to fund a proper arboricultural report for the Parish Council to consider. The draft reports points out all kinds of issues that need to be addressed.
There will still be legal work needed to help the Parish Council consider the matter in the ways we believe it should, and if you can give further support, please do. We are not at the stage of a court case and hope that can be avoided, though if it were to happen it has the potential to be an important case nationally.
With huge thanks and love
Save Billi Oaks!
Save Billi Oaks!
Sept. 24, 2025
We've got a stay of execution - but we still need your help!
What we’ve achieved so far…
We raised enough money to instruct Richard Buxton Solicitors to write to Billingshurst Parish Council explaining why felling the trees would be unlawful. This convinced the Parish Council to defer felling while they take more legal advice themselves. Without that help, our trees would now be stumps - felling had been planned for 18 September.
We explained that the Parish Council had been taking the wrong legal approach, and among other things pointed out that alternative solutions had not been investigated properly and that the monetised value of the trees was huge – over £300,000 – which should be considered in working out the appropriate way forward. The damage complained of was minor, such as merited merely decorative works. Felling trees like this would be wholly disproportionate.
We have also taken the matter up with Horsham District Council which for similar reasons wrongly, we say, gave permission for the trees to be felled despite the Tree Preservation Order in place protecting them.
Why we still need your support
This is great news but the two magnificent oak trees in Billingshurst are still at high risk! We still need your support: please donate and share this page now!
We have raised over £2,000 but we need to keep Richard’s expert legal advice available to allow us to work with the Parish Council to find a solution acceptable to all parties, including the affected homeowner, that avoids cutting down these trees. Please donate generously so we can at least reach our stretch target. We hope the Parish Council will agree and the matter will be resolved amicably, but we need to be continually vigilant and able to act quickly with the lawyers.
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