07:40 Tuesday 14th February 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
ANDY GALL: We need to get an understanding about the reasons for the trees being cut down, so that we can move forward with the discussion. So we’ll be able to speak to Andrew Edwards who’s from Peterborough City Council. Good morning Andrew.
ANDREW EDWARDS: Good morning. How are you this morning?
ANDY GALL: Pretty good. So can you tell us a little bit about the reasons for removing some of the trees please.
ANDRE EDWARDS: OK. The first thing to mention of course is that we don’t make a decision to take out trees lightly. And this has been a very well thought through, discussed and considered option. But in essence we’ve taken professional advice, looking at the trees, and the key thing here is to give a public space that will be there, not just for our generation, but for the generations to come.
ANDY GALL: And also during the process though, is it .. people want it to look aesthetically pleasing right now as well as in the future, so will it be done sympathetically?
ANDREW WILSON: Oh yes. We will do it in the best way possible. We’re very keen for the public realm that is produced as a result of taking these trees out to meet the needs of people of today and the future. The reason though that we are looking at taking these trees out is to ensure the life of the remainder. We could leave them in. We could say, right, we’re not going to do anything with these trees. And then, after a couple of years, you’ll see some of the trees starting to struggle. Some of them starting to die. And there’s a chance that we could lose considerably more than the thirteen we’re planning to take out at the present moment.
ANDY GALL: OK Andrew. Thank you very much for talking to us. And apologise for it being a little bit brief, but we certainly got the salient points from you. That’s Andrew Edwards from Peterborough City Council.
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