Sacrificial trees for the uber Westgate being cut down now!

Please tell the council's Tree Officer to protect these trees - its simple:

Call Oxford City Council on 249811 and ask to speak to the Tree Officer,
Kevin Caldicott. You might reach his answerphone as he's part-time, and
might be at the felling area already.
Tell him that you would like the trees around the Westgate Centre to
be protected. According to a council tree-sugeon, over 40 trees are
earmarked for destruction. Formally this can only be done if these three
condidtions are met, namely:
1 - the trees are healthy - yes they look in very good condition
2 - the trees are irreplacable - most are quite mature and magnificent
3 - the trees are under immediate threat - a few are down already!
Given these three conditions, 'Tree Preservation Orders' can be placed
on the trees to prevent any more getting cut.

You could also add:
A public enquiry is still underway on the whole Westgate redevelopment
so the felling of the trees is not yet 'required'. The Green Party has been
opposing this development plan for a few years.
Even if the Westgate redevelopment goes ahead, some of the trees could
be saved, especially if they are protected and people show that they care.
Even if these trees are lost in the name of 'progress', we should push for
better tree-protection rules in general. The council should not be able to
cut down trees without any public consultation. It takes a few minutes to
remove a tree that took many decades to grow. As a matter of principle,
the few remaining mature trees in Oxford City should be protected.

If you would like to know more about the background to this sad situation,
there is some information on the Oxfordshire Green Party website ( see:
www.greenoxford.com ) or you could call Cllr. Sushila Dhall on 553415.

Thanks.

Some of us spent all day trying to resist the removal of some beautiful, mature London Plains trees near Paradise Square.

Sadly they cut down three of them - but we managed to slow them down a lot; councillor Deborah Glass Woodin was arrested and Bruce, a local activist, remains up one of the trees.

If you can get down there NOW to support Bruce - or if you fancy some climbing - that would be great. Apparently, they're planning an all-nighter TONIGHT and trying to get people to come and help out on a rota-basis.

Bruce and friends (not the cops, mind) are on the corner of Norfolk Street, near Castle Street; around the back of the Westgate Centre near the multi-storey carpark. Map here:
 http://openstreetmap.com/?mlat=51.75055&mlon=-1.2615&zoom=16

There are still plenty of trees that need defending.