Severn Trent seeks permission to cut down eight trees for Ironbridge work
Utility company Severn Trent Water is asking for permission to cut down eight 20-year-old trees in Ironbridge to improve access as it builds a sewage pipe.
The company plans to install 1,200 metres of pipe between pumping stations either side of the river at Ironbridge.
Severn Trent says it needs to fell eight trees, all 20 or more years old, and cut back 10 more, to allow clearance for vehicles and equipment.
The Gorge Parish Council will be consulted, and Telford & Wrekin Council’s planning department will make a decision at a later date.
Severn Trent plans to run a pipe from the North Shaft sewage pumping station, down Waterloo Street, over the footpath of the B4373 New Bridge, up Severn Way and to the South Shaft station.
The 100-metre section over the bridge will be temporary, “only in place during planned pumping from north bank”, according to plans that accompany the application.
A covering letter by Jenny Salt, an associate with Fisher German LLP’s utilities and renewables planning team, says: “My client, Severn Trent Water Ltd, is proposing to install a 1,200-metre HDPE (high-density polyethylene) rising main between the North Shaft sewage pumping station and Ladywood/South Shaft sewage pumping station.
“To facilitate these works, numerous trees need to be removed or crown lifted.
“Due to the geographical split of the proposed tree works, the extent of tree removal has been split into three separate applications.
“This application is one of three.”
The trees earmarked for removal are south of Waterloo Street. They consist of a group of two hawthorn and two hazel trees, a sycamore, an elder, a goat willow and an alder.
In an assessment compiled by Ecus Environmental Consultants, all the trees earmarked for felling are estimated to be 20 or more years old and their quality is rated as ‘C2 – low’, on a scale that runs from ‘A – high’ to ‘D – unsuitable for retention’. The condition of all trees is rated ‘fair’ except for the goat willow, which is ‘poor’, and is also the tallest at 17 metres.
