Mature trees saved after £13m plans to improve A629 in West Yorkshire are shelved

Protesters met at the Blacker Road junction on November 4 to celebrate the announcement that plans which would see the removal of mature trees from the A629 in Edgerton, near Huddersfield, have been paused as funding is no longer available. The controversial plan, referred to as ‘Phase 5,’ was designed to reduce congestion and received a great deal of backlash since its inception, with locals and councillors alike campaigning to save the trees.

Amongst attendees of this week’s protest were Newsome councillors Andrew Cooper, Karen Allison and Susan Lee-Richards as well as local residents who felt strongly about the announcement.

Edgerton resident Alison Gaughan said: “It’s a huge relief. My house looks out onto some of the trees that would’ve been lost, and it would’ve been really upsetting to have lost that beautiful view. I live in a beautiful place, and I’m very lucky, but to lose that for absolutely no reason and all of these beautiful trees would be just devastating. So yeah, very relieved, very happy that all of the work we’ve put in has had an effect, and even if the council doesn’t admit it, I really do believe that what we’ve done has had an effect.

“I moved in in 2019 and I didn’t know this was happening until someone from Save the Trees put a leaflet through my door and I got onto the Council and was told ‘oh, it’s already decided, it was decided years ago, we’re going to do it, there’s nothing you can do’ and you know, that turned out not to be the case. Fantastic news.”

Sarah Newton, who was involved in forming the group Save Greenhead Trees which evolved into Save the Trees Kirklees, also attended the protest. She said: “I’m delighted with the decision. I think it was always a mistake. I never thought there was ever a justification for this part of the scheme. The people here have fought really hard for three years, and I’m here really just to share in our success.

“In 2017, we started Save Greenhead Trees, and we fought to save trees around the park, and we managed to get quite a lot of support, a lot of engagement with local people. Then we went on to form Save the Trees Kirklees as a Facebook group, and it’s a very grassroots movement, and we’ve got over 1500 supporters online, and quite an active social media presence.

“Personally, I’ve engaged with local residents here in the first instance to try and get an overview of what was happening. We’ve made films, we’ve done petitions, we’ve given deputations, asked questions at Council, I mean the list is endless, the amount of work that’s gone into this, so a massive thank you to everybody involved and congratulations to them.”

Councillor Andrew Cooper said: “The scheme has been axed, not the trees, and that’s the great news from today. When I say axed, the council does say that the scheme is paused, but there’s no money for the scheme, for this section of it. The 88 trees that were going to be lost, the beautiful entranceway into Huddersfield, that is not going to continue, there is no programme for it, there is no budget for it, and that as far as I’m concerned is a scheme that is shelved.

“It would have been nice if Kirklees had acknowledged that the scheme was wrong because of the loss of trees, loss of habitat, the heritage aspects of it, but it’s the money in the end which did it. Plus, the fact campaigners here put it to the top of the list as the most unpopular scheme being promoted by Kirklees Council so when things had to be axed, this scheme was at the top of the list. That’s down to them and all the work that they’ve done.

“I think we need to ask some questions about some of the issues about the gardens that were going to be purchased, the homes that were going to be affected by this, and understand how the council’s going to deal with some of the issues that arose from there. That’s important because people’s lives have been affected and we need to ensure they are properly considered as a result.”

Though the scheme is set to continue when an alternative funding source is identified, protesters seemed optimistic that the development would be shelved indefinitely, especially as no indication has been given as to when plans can resume. The final decision on Phase 5 will be made at WYCA’s Finance, Resources, and Corporate Committee meeting on November 10.