Residents have expressed anger and disappointment after five fruit trees planted with NHS permission at the Stroud Maternity Hospital site were removed without the community being consulted.
Seven fruit trees were planted at the site in 2014 by Edible Stroud, a food-growing project operating under the umbrella of local environmental group Transition Stroud, together with members of the NHS Care Commission and the hospital’s League of Friends.
The project was initiated by Edible Stroud founder Josie Cowgill, who said she was “shocked and horrified” when she recently discovered that most of the trees had disappeared.
The trees have provided ecological and community benefits for more than a decade, including fruit and nuts, wildlife habitat, shade and shelter, carbon capture and increased biodiversity.
Hospital authorities have told local councillors that the trees were removed as part of plans to enlarge the car park and said they had been unable to establish who owned the trees or who had planted them.
But Josie has questioned this explanation, saying the original planting was carried out with explicit permission from the Care Commission.
She said: “I obtained explicit permission from the Care Commission for this project and was given a specific area in which the trees could be planted. Representatives from the Care Commission and League of Friends were photographed doing the planting and the photo is on the website of the NHS Forest project, which encourages the planting of trees in hospital grounds.
“So the claim that ‘no ownership or formal authorisation could be identified’ seems implausible. All the NHS Trust needed to do, other than look at their own website, was ask at the Trinity Rooms hub, next door to the site, and someone would have told them about the history of the trees.”
Josie, who coordinates the nearby Trinity Rooms Community Hub, said the removal represented a significant loss to both the hospital environment and the wider community.
“There was no justification for removing trees that had become established ecological and community assets, capturing carbon, producing fruit and nuts, providing habitat and food for wildlife, providing shade and shelter and contributing to biodiversity.
“Prioritising car parking over established trees only exacerbates the environmental crisis we are facing.
“If we are to create a healthy and sustainable future, protecting and enhancing our natural environment is not optional, it is essential to our wellbeing and survival.
“We can no longer continue to sacrifice nature for short-term convenience, and I’m disappointed that the NHS Trust does not appear to recognise this.”
Green county councillor for Stroud Central Natalie Rothwell-Warn said the decision appeared to conflict with the principles of the NHS Forest project, which promotes tree planting and greener hospital environments.
She said: “The decision to remove the trees is completely at odds with the ethos of the NHS Forest project, which actively encourages the planting of trees in hospital grounds and which specifically says fruit trees are ‘a popular addition to hospital grounds’.
“This seems to be a classic case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, and, hopefully, is nothing worse than that.
“However, the planting of these beautiful trees was funded by the National Lottery, so they truly were the People’s Trees, and should never have been removed without proper and thorough checks with members of the community.”
Cllr Rothwell-Warn said the NHS Trust had acknowledged the disappointment caused by the removal and offered to plant replacement trees elsewhere on the site.
“Councillors and residents would very much like to meet with them to discuss the best way of doing this to ensure the new trees are looked after and protected so that the loss of many years of growth and of the ecological and community benefits that came with the trees will not happen again.”
The controversy comes as the Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust has resubmitted a previously withdrawn planning application to expand the hospital car park.
The proposals would create 41 additional spaces, increasing the existing 105 spaces to 146 – an increase of around 39 per cent.
The proposed expansion would result in the loss of the green space where the fruit trees stood.
Green town and district councillor for Trinity ward Lucas Schoemaker said he questioned the need for the additional parking and raised concerns about how the existing car park is used.
He said: “I can see no good reason to expand the car park, given that the Trust reportedly plans to scale down maternity services.
“Furthermore, it is common knowledge locally that the car park is used by members of the public who are not hospital workers, patients or visitors.
“If the Trust really needs to free up more parking spaces for people actually using the hospital, it could consider reinstating a permit scheme and improving parking enforcement.
“There seems no need at all to pave over the only piece of green space on the hospital site, which is a haven for wildlife – and, until recently, a home for much-loved fruit trees.”
A spokesperson for Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are very sorry the loss of these particular trees has caused disappointment. We fully recognise the environmental and wellbeing benefits trees provide and support a diverse range of established trees across our sites. We would welcome conversations about replanting trees in alternative locations on the site, while providing sufficient parking to reduce the impact on our neighbours and installing EV charging points for lower-emission vehicles.”
Members of the public have until September 17 to submit comments on the planning application.
The application can be viewed and commented on through Stroud District Council’s planning portal.
