Since I put together the pages on the Irton tree, I've been sent this account of the campaign, by David Parker, who was closely involved from the beginning.
by David Parker
Six years has passed since we heard that the Irton Beech tree was under threat of being felled. Newcomers to the village had complained and had applied to Scarborough Borough Council for its removal. Being sited in a beautiful Conservation Area, being a wonderful amenity to the village, but more important was its contribution to the environment, the tree had stood tall and healthy for over a 100 years, so we had to object to the application.
I and a small group of dedicated villagers started to campaign. It soon became apparent that there were alternative solutions other than the felling of this tree and in December 2007 the North York Moors and Coast Committee ruled in favour of keeping the tree, a ruling that has not yet been rescinded.
Over the following weeks/months/years we as a group of objectors continually put forward our views at planning meetings at the Town Hall every time the application appeared, including a petition signed by most of the village and the Scarborough Evening News well documented our campaign through the ensuing years. We always had the backing of the Planning department and of the planning committee; in general SBC supported us and confirmed that alternative solutions to the alleged problems caused by the tree were available as per the commissioned Elliott Consultancy Reports.
Naively we thought that SBC legal department would see it through and defend our actions, however, we were wrong. We hear now that we could have been involved earlier in the legal side, we hear now that as an interested party if involved we could have saved the tree. Also the absurd high cost run up by NYCC actions would have been much less.
The decision could now set a precedent that simply washes away any progress regarding the protection of trees established over the years. I now fear for trees in other parts of England
I am of the opinion that maybe some people have not been honest in this matter, and succumbed to the pressure of insurance companies. As for Judge Ibbotson that over ruled a tree preservation order, his decision could now set a precedent that simply washes away any progress regarding the protection of trees established over the years. I now fear for trees in other parts of England.
As villagers we were simply removed from the decision making process and left only to think – our magnificent tree, the beating heart of our village would soon be gone – all we could do was fight for what we believed in. And so fight we did.
Back then we did not know any of the legal wrangle we were soon to discover and by the end of September we had reluctantly accepted the sad news that the chainsaws would soon be here. There had been a court hearing in Scarborough Court that we knew nothing of and the following week I was at York Court to hear Judge Ibbotson announce that the tree was a 'nuisance' and would be felled by the end of September. I left the Court room utterly drained and dismayed. It was then I realised that nobody had defended us. SBC legal officer had gone just to observe.
At the next Irton Parish Council meeting I announced I had been in contact with NYCC and been successful in securing a portion of the tree to give back to the village to be made into a bench or memorial to the tree lost and then we as a village could move on.
Friday 16th September came and those 19 days that followed were dramatic and hectic to say the least. Tuesday 20th Sep at 6.00am I arrived, we all expected to see police and barriers encircling the tree, but no such thing. I had arrived early with Richard Harrison to make sure all was well and that any protest was handled correctly and within the law. People gathered and slowly the crowd increased in size. Community police arrived on the scene (thankfully the ones we knew and respected), then officials in yellow jackets arrived and we all prepared to be cleared from the scene. But things then changed. A friend arrived with Mark Snow (Snoz), maybe we could get more time and publicity to help save the tree if someone went up, the decision was his, he was like minded and the extra days grace allowed us to discover what had gone wrong and why we had been left out of the legal side.
Our small group of campaigners then grew in size and other like minded people who thought as we did joined and became friends
Our small group of campaigners then grew in size and other like minded people who thought as we did joined and became friends. Their input was beneficial and we discovered in the following two weeks many injustices. A 24hr vigil rota was created as we feared that either the police or NYCC officers would barrier round the tree and stop us from demonstrating and supplying those within the boughs of our tree. We arranged 24hr support and cover – through the daylight hours people were plentiful and from the hours of 10.00pm until 6.00am at least two people were there.
The tree occupiers were well looked after, they had all they needed and supplies were hoisted up in a bag. They were good people all as dedicated as we were and my thanks go out to all five of them. The interviews they gave to the media were true to their hearts and ours too and they gave their own views as to why they chose to defend our beech. My thoughts drift to the two male infiltrators that tried to discover our next moves – who were you? – they appeared on two separate occasions appearing to be interested but I became suspicious and when I confronted them and asked who they were their reply was 'can't say sir'. Police or Council Officers? We should have followed them and got their registration numbers. They never came back.
Local people arrived during daylight and sat with us for support, it brought out the goodness in many within our village. Local businesses offered support in a genuine way and this was gratefully received. Many people came from other parts of the country to offer us support, their comments and well wishes encouraged us to go on. Some councillors came, but too late, we never saw our local MP. Some people came with derisory remarks and we did experience verbal abuse, we even had cars drive past, windows open and eggs thrown at us. A few villagers were upset by the extra traffic and for this we are sorry. All the local and National TV crews and newspaper reporters were very polite and helpful in publicising our fight and our local newspaper reporters and photographers were very good in their manner and professionalism, Radio York gave us daily coverage throughout the campaign to which we are grateful. Many knowledgeable people came and gave radio interviews supporting our case; we even appeared on the Jeremy Vine show. We had letters of support delivered to the tree at YO12 4R BEECH, Main Street, Irton and post came from as far as Brazil and New Zealand.
There were times when many of us felt intimidated by actions of some of the police officers, we felt they were maybe embarrassed by not being able to control a group of senior citizens who were legally and quietly demonstrating. We had our photographs taken by evidence gathering police (I wonder if they have since destroyed them or do we now have a criminal record?) and we were also under 24hr video surveillance, but by who??. The High Court Judge ordered that NYCC had to supply all evidence to show that there was not any other way of abating the problem other than felling. We knew there was (Elliott Reports). When asked if they would supply this evidence NYCC said NO!, we then had literally hours to collate this evidence and send it to London 'yesterday' but we were too late.
We tried every avenue we could as time was running out, even a desperate attempt to get an injunction (based on local traffic signage) failed much to our financial loss of £2733.00. NYCC had five legal officers and a top barrister, a little over the top some might say, we had only two of us, no barrister just hope.
During the 24 hr two week vigil some of us hardly slept as we had to be there and felt we needed to be there most of the time
During the 24 hr two week vigil some of us hardly slept as we had to be there and felt we needed to be there most of the time. Some people were frightened off by being told they could be arrested and their possessions taken from them. So we had to double up for those people lost. By then four gallant lads had occupied the tree and Vikki was the fifth and last.
Two of our group rushed to Leeds on that final day on Tuesday 4th October in order to get top legal advice again at a high cost to try and secure a last minute injunction but they were just minutes too late. They entered the office as Vikki came down, greeted by two of her close friends. She walked through the wire barriers to be greeted by a loud applause; she did a lot for us. In tears she and a small group stood to witness the following destruction of the tree.
Everything then seemed to change, one of the Highway Officers appeared to be smirking at us and then we heard the sad news that one of our most respected villagers and supporters had just died in hospital, it was then that I made the decision not to keep the tree trunk.
I felt at that moment it would only be a constant reminder of all that was wrong, of all the mismanagement and injustice that we had uncovered in those last few days. Afterwards I learnt a few people were upset by this, but I made the decision and will have to live with it, only hoping people will understand.
We had become the trees companions over the six years, we had sat underneath its canopy in the daylight hours and protected it through the night, and we had to be with it at the end. It fell to the ground piece by piece, once it was alive now it was dead. Our Beech had become just another statistic, number 501 as the chainsaws did their nasty work. It finally crashed to the ground like a dead dinosaur, we wept and walked away.
But from this we have to move on and hopefully give our village something back. Yes there are many unanswered questions and yes we have learnt much. Our experience could help others who find themselves in a similar situation so the Irton Tree Foundation (www.irtontreefoundation.org) was formed.
Be careful because next time it could be your tree in your village/town.
David Parker
Irton