Damning Review of Plymouth Armada Way tree felling

The review commissioned by Plymouth City Council (PCC) in order for them to learn lessons from the Armada Way tree felling fiasco is complete and the report has been published. It is damning.

The Armada Way Independent Learning Review (AWILR) panel was tasked with looking into the decision to approve the development of Armada Way and to immediately fell over 100 trees in the centre of Plymouth in March 2023.

They found systemic issues with PCC’s governance , transparency, community engagement and record keeping, and they heavily criticised senior management.

PCC has been given 18 recommendations, and the panel has called on them to do what they can to rebuild trust, which has been significantly damaged by this episode – trust between the council and residents, and within the council itself.

The STRAW (Save the Trees of Armada Way) campaign, which we started to try and save trees on Armada Way, and the subsequent legal challenges, have been vindicated, with all of the issues we raised shown to be valid concerns that the Council ought to have addressed.

Read the article by Ali White, STRAW founder, on West Country Voices here.