September 26, 2011
A five-year legal battle over the felling of a 100-year-old tree in Irton, North Yorkshire, has been extended by a protester who spent the night in the tree to prevent its removal.
The 60ft beech tree at the village near Scarborough has been at the centre of a legal struggle that has cost the North Yorkshire County Council an estimated £250,000.
The request to remove the tree was made in 2006 by a resident who claimed that its roots were damaging drains and the boundary wall of a property in the vicinity. However other villagers fought to preserve the historic tree and the County Council, acting as highways authority for the area, were forced to take battle through the courts.
After a judge ordered the felling of the tree last month, contractors were due to arrive to carry out the work on Tuesday 20 September. However shortly before 9am on Tuesday morning, local man Mark Snow climbed into the tree and tied himself to it.
After a stand-off that lasted for several hours, contractors and police left the area and the tree was left standing. But the decision to remove it remains in force, with a spokesman for North Yorkshire County Council saying: “The county council has legal and statutory obligations over which it has no discretion. As the highways authority it must act according to the law, which is what it has done in this instance.”
Meanwhile Mr. Snow remains determined to continue his direct action to prevent the removal of the tree. He said: "There are plenty of people willing to take my place up here and I've had loads of support from local residents with sandwiches being winched up."
