Green Party Councillor Richard Longstaff has successfully driven significant enhancements to Southend City Council’s tree policy, with plans to increase the city’s tree canopy cover from 12% to at least 15%.

Discussions around the Green Party’s ambitious tree motion are finally gaining momentum, with Portfolio Holder Cllr Lydia Hyde recently announcing a comprehensive set of measures. While the motion was not debated at this month’s Full Council meeting, Cllr Longstaff’s proposals include tighter scrutiny on tree removals, planting thousands of new trees citywide, and introducing an interactive map for residents —all now under development by the administration.

“I’m encouraged by the administration’s commitment to my proposals after the inaction by the previous leadership. There’s still work to do, particularly on tree removal oversight which ideally should be brought to Place Scrutiny. Things are now moving in the right direction after years of lobbying, and I look forward to collaborating to enhance our tree canopy for future generations.

“That said, I will be the first to hold the administration to account if they fail to deliver on these pledges.

“I’m also glad to see a firm commitment from the leader to finally bring real trees to the High Street. This is a welcome step forward, especially after the Tories’ absurd proposal for fake trees at the last Full Council meeting.”

Cllr Richard Longstaff

The Green Party will remain focused in holding the administration to account, championing both social and environmental justice at every step.

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Residents on Leigh Hall Road (Leigh) and Ilfracombe Road (Kursaal) have breathed a sigh of relief after discovering tree removal notices on every tree last Tuesday, stating that they would be felled this coming Wednesday, giving just a week’s notice.

These notices come just days after the Council outraged residents by removing seven mature Ash trees in Vernon Road to make footway resurfacing easier. Local resident, Simon Gittus organised a petition of over 200 residents, urging the council to reconsider those plans, but the Labour-run City Council ignored residents and axed them anyway.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the notices last Tuesday, these trees are collectively over 3,000 years old – they are our natural assets – and I’m grateful to hear that they are staying.

We were all thinking the worst could actually happen, especially after the Vernon Road tree removal fiasco where 7 mature Ash trees were removed for pavement works, and weren’t listed on the tree removal website due to an ‘admin error’.”

Simon Gittus, Green Party Activist

Green Party Councillor for Leigh Ward, Cllr Richard Longstaff says,

“After much panic, I’m thankful these wonderful, mature trees aren’t coming down. It took the council officers two days to finally confirm these notices were put up in ‘error’, causing unnecessary stress to residents and the community.

“I will be looking for answers as to why this happened; were they actually going to cut them down and backtracked when they saw the outrage, or was it simply miscommunication between the council and it’s outsourced tree removal consultant”

Fellow Green Councillor, Stuart Allen says, “I found out on Tuesday afternoon from a fellow councillor during work. There was very little detail on what was going on, so we all had no option but to assume the worst at that stage and wait days for answers. This simply cannot happen again.”

Cllr Longstaff continues, “My motion, which was approved by full council last September, would have put a stop to having to constantly look over your shoulder, but both the Tories and Labour have ignored the will of the people and the full council that represents them.”

The Green Party will continue to push to save these trees through all measures. The administration should be under no illusion that they can remove Southend’s trees without proper scrutiny.

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