A YEAR-long controversy over the felling of three Falmouth trees has ended with Cornwall Council saying it has made changes to how it will deal with such public works in the future.

A battle by residents and environmental campaigners was lost last week when the council chopped down the much-loved trees on Trelawney Road. The work was not without incident: after attempting to get through security fencing to stop the chop, one of the lead protesters was dropped by police officers while being carried away from the scene, banging her head on the pavement.

The proposal to fell has been mired in controversy with different reasons given for why the 60-year-old lime trees had to be removed. It was eventually revealed that the council had entered into an out-of-court settlement with the owners of a neighbouring property, to the suggested tune of £107,000 – a figure which has never been denied by the council – and subject to a confidentiality agreement meaning the council was unable to disclose the exact reasons why the trees had to be cut down, which has angered locals.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday [December 17], Cornwall Council leader Leigh Frost described the matter as “not ideal”, but said steps are now in place for the council to do things differently should similar circumstances arise.

“This was a situation that I and my cabinet inherited when we formed the administration, and I’ve come to understand the strength of feeling from local residents as the months have passed,” he said. “The bottom line was that we were legally required to remove those trees. We had to manage the outcome and it’s fair to say it’s not been easy because of the process involved.

“The issue arose from public works forming part of a settlement to a legal claim, which also contained a standard legal clause making the arrangement confidential.

“This affected the way the situation has been managed, which has not been ideal to say the least. Our strategic director Phil Mason made this point at a public meeting two weeks ago.”

He added: “I made it a priority to look into what happened and I’ve asked the team to assure me lessons will be learned.

“They have assured me that steps are now in place to ensure any proposals of this nature involving public works must be considered and approved by the monitoring officer or deputy monitoring officer.

“We know people will be saddened to see the trees taken down. The team has taken great care in selecting new trees and the work they are doing to dig new tree pits will give them the best possible chance to flourish when they are planted.”

Since last week’s felling, Falmouth Town Council has demanded a full breakdown of all costs, including policing, security and contractor fees for the felling operation.

Stop the Chop! protesters say the costs – and the injury to member Debs Newman – could have been avoided entirely had Cornwall Council shared, in the public interest, the evidence relied upon to justify felling the trees.