Anger as Memorial Garden Trees felled ‘without consultation’

The trees in their former glory in the memorial gardens

Plans to fell trees in the Rochdale Memorial Gardens has caused fury among residents.

Users of the memorial gardens and in particular the Friends of Rochdale Memorial Gardens are aghast with the Council for failing to consult them before giving the scheme the go ahead.

The removal of the trees is part of a bid by the Council to restore the gardens to their original design, to open up the park, improve views and encourage more people to use the gardens.

The chairman of the Friends of Rochdale Memorial Gardens, Jason Addy, said the felling of the trees is an example of “poor communication.”

Mr Addy said: “It appears the manner in which the trees have been felled from the Memorial Gardens could be seen as another example of poor communication with stakeholders, especially the Friends Groups, and within departments of Rochdale Council.

“There have been many statements published about the importance of public engagement in Rochdale. These include the Aiming High and Pride of Place commitments together with recent presentations from Thinking Places about what makes Rochdale special. The only way to ensure all these words are not mere empty rhetoric is to ensure there is open and accountable dialogue between departments, agencies, stakeholders and, perhaps most importantly, the public.

“The Friends Groups are one of the strongest manifestations of public spirit and commitment to maintaining and improving the natural and built environment within Rochdale's civic green spaces.”

Mr Addy continued: “My interpretation of recent events, and I stress that it is a personal view, is that an unaccountable series of decisions have been made in a way that has not engaged with all relevant council departments, stakeholders or the public. Strategic visions and conflicting agendas may have also been pressured as a result of annual budgets and impending cuts. I have no doubt that the individual officers believed they were acting in a professional manner for all the right reasons. The problem is that a lack of effective consultation has left a very undesirable situation. I am sure that some officers, and the public will be exasperated or resigned to the fact that “this is unfortunately how things happen in Rochdale”. I know it leaves a very bitter taste for many connected with the Friends Groups.

“As Chair of the Friends of Memorial Gardens and member of Friends of Broadfield Park I find the lack of any effective consultation to be a discourtesy.”

Mr Addy has also spoken about his views on why the tree felling has been rushed. He said: “The rush to fell the trees, the apparent reasons suggested to elected members for their clearance and the comments made in the local media by senior officers about their plans for the Memorial Gardens is further cause for concern. There is a feeling that the real reason to do the work so quickly was to make sure the budget was spent before the public could complain and try to make changes.”

Mr Addy concluded: “If Friends Groups are to be truly valued and play a useful role to maintain and improve the natural and built heritage of our town then there must be some form of protocol or template for effective consultation. Friends Groups are not asking for some form of veto or even executive authority, just some form of communication structure so that we can be informed of and engage with strategic planning projects. This need not be a formal meeting space. Such a network can easily cascade most information electronically.

“There are many people in Rochdale that love our town and want to make it better. This includes Rochdale Council staff and the public. Recent events have harmed much goodwill.”

Rochdale Council was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.