For the past eight days a protest has been held around – and in the branches of – the mature horse chestnut, which stands on the boundary of the new medical centre on River Lawn Road.
Local people have held a 24/7 vigil to stop the conker tree being felled, even strapping themselves to it with harnesses overnight despite the high winds and heavy rain.
And they have gained 2,000 signatures on a petition calling on Assura, the developer who will build the new surgery, to save the tree.
Now Assura have said they will delay taking down the tree while further assessments are being made – and if there is no threat to public safety, they will consider how the plans might be changed to accommodate it.
On Friday [November 30] the chair of KRLG, Mark Hood, and an arbiculturalist met representatives of Assura, after which the company issued a statement confirming the tree would remain standing.
It had been scheduled for removal as part of the original planning application, which said it had a bleeding canker which could cause it to become unstable when the foundations are laid for the new building.
Protesters claim that the architect working on the blueprint for the Tonbridge Medical Centre had told them that tweaks to the plan for the upper floors would mean the tree did not have to be taken down.
These claims were denied by Assura, who said: “This is not – and has never been – the case. We have discussed this matter again with the architect of the building, who feels his discussion has been heavily misrepresented.”
‘We have proposed to carry out further investigations into any potential for the safe retention of the tree whilst allowing the construction of this much-needed
medical centre to proceed’
After the meeting, however, Assura issued a statement which said: “We have proposed to carry out further investigations into any potential for the safe retention of the tree whilst allowing the construction of this much-needed medical centre to proceed.”
They added that they have instructed ‘leading independent tree experts to use their specialist ground-penetrating radar to see if there are any reasonable adjustments which could be made to the foundation design to avoid important roots, and to take a fresh look to see if the tree can be safely kept’.
If such adjustments are feasible, the firm will ‘carry out reasonable tree work which is likely to be needed (in accordance with the independent tree experts’ advice and method statements) to allow construction to safely progress in this way… Then progress construction with the tree in place, as long as the independent tree experts (who are members of the Institute of Chartered Foresters) confirm that it is reasonably safe to do so’.
But the developer warned: ‘If at any stage the assessor judges, in accordance with accepted good practice, that the construction works are assessed to significantly reduce the tree’s safe, useful life expectancy, or present and health and safety risk, there will be no other course of action other than to remove it under the existing permissions which have already been granted’.
Assura have said that KRLG representatives will be invited to be present at the regular inspections of the tree – the first of which will be on Monday [December 3].
The summit meeting was held with Assura’s head of development, Simon Gould and Jonathan Webb, the senior development manager.
Afterwards KRLG chief Mr Hood told the Times: “We’re delighted. It’s a step in the right direction, we’re very pleased. It’s as much as we could hope for.
“The meeting went really well. They put forward the idea and were very helpful. They came with an open mind.
“They didn’t want to remove the tree, and they had a comprehensive plan about how to approach the situation.”
He explained: “They went through the steps they were going to take, like digging exploratory trenches and examining whether they could move the pillars of the foundations.
‘It’s testament to the community spirit in this town. We’ve had boots, socks, hats – and lots of
sausage rolls and biscuits. It’s been quite something, really heart-warming’
“One of the top three arbiculturalists in the country will be coming down from Essex to check the root system and the general vitality of the tree.”
Mr Hood added that the protesters will now vacate the site. “We are taking away the harness and the gazebo, and leaving the site just as it should be.”
He paid tribute to the huge groundswell of support that has been growing all week, saying: “We think it’s a victory for the tree and the community really.
“It’s been incredible to get the people coming along all through the day – and up in the tree in a harness 24 hours a day.
“It’s testament to the community spirit in this town. We’ve had boots, socks, hats – and lots of sausage rolls and biscuits. There’s even been a kitty in Nancy’s Tea Rooms. It’s been quite something, really heart-warming.”
