Saltford Parish Council is responsible for the management of safety at St Mary’s Churchyard (which is now a ‘closed’ churchyard). The churchyard is owned by St Mary’s Church, Saltford.
Saltford Parish Council is keen to hear from the member(s) of the public who planted two Lawson Cypress trees by the north wall of St Mary’s Churchyard in Saltford. Please see the three photos below showing the trees in question.
The trees were planted without permission and have unfortunately begun to undermine the wall, leading to safety concerns regarding the stability of the wall. The trees are approximately 2.5 metres high and fast growing. As such, St
Mary’s Church and Saltford Parish Council intend to remove the trees to avoid further damage to the stability of the adjacent stone wall.
St Mary’s Church contacted the Archdeacon of Bath in May regarding the trees and has since received his permission to remove these two trees on safety grounds.
St Mary’s Churchyard is in Saltford’s Conservation Area. As the stems of the trees are less than 75mm when measured at 1.5m above ground level, both St Mary’s Church and Saltford Parish Council agree that planning permission to remove the trees is not required, in line with the B&NES Council planning information about trees in conservation areas.
St Mary’s Church and Saltford Parish Council would be grateful to hear from those who planted and tend the two trees so it can explain further why the trees need to be removed.
Due to the age of the surrounding memorials, the church does not hold contact details of the relatives of those buried close by. In early May, Saltford Parish Council asked via its social media channels for anyone who has any information about the two trees to get in contact. There was no reply to this appeal, so Saltford Parish Council will attempt to make contact via its SCAN page in June and also through its e-newsletter.
Following this, Saltford Parish Council will look to remove the trees after the nesting season and in line with any legislation relating to trees in a conservation area.
SPC and St Mary’s Church are keen for the person or family who planted and possibly tend the two Lawson Cypress trees to please make contact either with the Benefice Office (scnbenefice@gmail.com or 01225 872275) or SPC (via the
information at https://www.saltfordparishcouncil.gov.uk/contact/) by 31st July 2021.
