THE decision to fell mature and healthy lime trees in Snape Avenue – Snape Parish Council has referred in the past to getting rid of 25 this year, 25 next – despite all expert advice to the contrary is an affront to conservationists and environmental groups everywhere (D&S Times, Sep 30).
The consequence is that we are going to lose Snape’s beautiful avenue and there appears to be absolutely nothing anyone can now do about it.
Linton Gaunt in his letter (D&S Times, Oct 7) looks forward to the planting of young limes to replace the present colonnades. Some Snape residents are beginning to think along the same lines. Even Snape Parish Council was committed to replanting and renewal of the avenue (or, at least, so it said) as late as September 11.
But there will be no residents in Snape in 50 years’ time who will be “pleased we had the foresight”, as Mr Gaunt pictures it, “to replant the avenue”. Why not? Because David Webster, chairman of planning in Hambleton, has already vetoed it at the meeting of September 15.
Indeed, he made a particular point of so doing!
It will be a dark day in the history of Snape when in the near future work begins on the destruction of the avenue.
To learn something from this present catastrophe, perhaps the people of Snape should now be asking and anticipating what the parish council’s next target could be.
David Kirby, Snape
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