Cotham School and the Stoke Lodge trees

The Information Statement includes the following:

‘In planning the work to reinstate the fence, the School wanted to respond to feedback, to improve safety by removing muddy paths, to respond to the Bristol Tree Forum concerns regarding footpaths impacting on the roots of trees protected by Tree Preservation Orders, to reduce any other ecological impact and to create an enhanced local open space.’

Our complaints about the detrimental impact caused by the school’s original fencing layout on all the trees – not just the trees protected by Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) – growing around the boundary of the site and on the playing fields were made in February 2020, nearly six years ago, in this blog: The trees at Stoke Lodge Park and Playing Fields – a letter to the Council. Cotham School has ignored these complaints and has never approached us to discuss our concerns.

Furthermore, Cotham School’s decision to drive its new fencing through the root zones of several TPO trees, one of which is a veteran boundary oak, and to destroy other trees, some of which are protected by a TPO, makes it clear to us that the school continues to ignore the welfare of the trees growing at Stoke Lodge.

We have reported these most recent breaches of TPO legislation to the Local Planning Authority. We have also made clear to Bristol City Council our concerns about the welfare of the Stoke Lodge trees generally. We have been ignored.

As a result of this neglect, the long-term welfare of all the trees growing on and around the playing fields is at risk.