Ancient woodland threatened by £156m road scheme

Trees in ancient woodland could be cut down and homes and gardens compulsorily purchased as part of a £156m scheme to improve a traffic junction.

Plymouth City Council is consulting on plans to add new lanes on the approaches and exits of Manadon roundabout to the north of the city to increase capacity.

Tree protection campaigners are concerned that could mean cutting down trees in Manadon Wood and said there was a lack of trust in the council after it cut down more than 100 trees at night in Armada Way.

The city council said it was negotiating with property owners about buying land and some trees would have to be felled but said it would plant new trees in their place.

One of the proposals is to add another lane on the approach to the roundabout on the A386 Outland Road which runs alongside ancient woodland.

Dave Curno is a volunteer with Plymouth Tree People, a charity that works to protect and increase the number of trees in the city.

He said: "The council has said there will be a lot of trees that need to be removed and they will be doing a three-for-one replacement.

"Our worry is that doesn't value the trees as they are - so a little sapling might not need replacing whereas some of the ancient or veteran trees are much more valuable and the ancient woodland in particular is irreplaceable."

Mr Curno said following the Armada Way tree-felling, trust in the council "does need to be built up".

He said: "The Armada Way independent learning review stated that trust is the one thing the council needed to work on and this is the sort of scheme they can use to work on that trust."