A temporary truce has been declared in a town riven by a row over a historic 150-year-old tree which faces the chop.
Campaigners have been chaining themselves to the ‘majestic’ oak which dates back to the Victorian era in 7,600-population Wivenhoe in Essex, defying attempts so far to axe it.
The tree has been threatened with being toppled, after complaints by neighbours that its underground roots cause subsidence damage to their homes.
An activist group and town councillors have now come to a holding pact on the promise of further investigations – protecting the tree until April at least.
But the local authority has demanded campaigners ‘promptly’ leave the protest site and pick up their possessions, amid concerns about the impact on local traders near a car park beside the threatened tree and the protest settlement.
The dispute has been so divisive that 24/7 vigils have been mounted in front of the great oak tree as well as a nearby horse chestnut – while the police were last month called to the site over concerns about public order.
Campaigners have also set up a GoFundMe page for future legal action, which has so far raised more than £7,000 in donations towards a £20,000 target.
There were proposals to knock down the tree in the middle of last month, and then a February 1 deadline for complaints.
Yet it remains in place for now – with supporters meanwhile maintaining their defiant stands-offs in Wivenhoe’s King George V Playing Fields.
There now appears to have been an apparent ceasefire, however – with an agreement to hold off on further action while a new probe is pursued.
Campaign group Stop The Chop told : ‘We have today formed an agreement with Wivenhoe Town Council that means that there will be time allowed and support for the independent evaluation we have been seeking.
‘The council is committed to not felling the trees before the 31 March and has indicated an openness to exploring alternatives too.’
And the town council set out a new schedule for further inquiries, while saying in a new statement it had been ‘working tirelessly to agree terms with the protesters that will persuade them to clear the car park so that it can be re-opened for community use’.
The local authority described how ‘necessary’ it was to ensure with lawyers and insurance experts that there would be no threat from claims by nearby residents.
The town council has now confirmed the trees would now be felled before March 31 while all accompanying fencing will be removed in the coming weeks.
Tree surgeons are being called in to carry out potential ‘crown reduction work’ on the trees, though no date has yet been set for the start of that work.
The town council added in its statement: ‘If a viable alternative to felling the trees is found, it is highly likely to include crown reduction.
‘In response to the above, the council sincerely hope that the protesters will now promptly leave the car park, removing all of their vehicles, belongings, and any other obstructions of theirs so that the council can re-open the car park for community use as soon as possible.
‘For insurance purposes the council makes no admission of any liability in relation to any damage to the neighbouring properties that may have been caused by the trees.’
Local firms have complained the antics of the eco group setting up camp in the town’s main car park had led to trade ‘dying off’.
But one campaigner told this month: ‘This is not just about tree-hugging. This is about people’s lives, it’s about people’s houses, it’s about people’s finances.’
Rina Isaacson, another protester, claimed the tree was vital and deserved to be fought for. ‘It’s not protesting, it’s protecting what is a glorious tree – no, more than that, it’s a majestic tree, that’s a better way of putting it,’ the 60-year-old said.
‘Even when the storms were raining down recently, people have been turning out to protect this tree.’
She expressed sympathy for the town councillors put in a ‘difficult situation’ when it comes to ruling over the tree’s fate – while also raising concerns over the impact on local traders of a nearby car park being closed ahead of the potential felling.
Ms Isaacson added: ‘I’m trying to remain positive – we’ll keep on chipping away. People are keeping up vigils here, 24/7.’
Insurance firm Aviva previously said the tree needs chopping down because it causes subsidence to nearby properties – though activists against the move say they have been kept in the dark over just how many homes might be affected, and how.
The company told the BBC last month that the Wivenhoe situation was ‘a complex and sensitive matter which we are keen to resolve in the best way or all of the parties involved’.
And the town council has pointed to three reports blaming the tree for subsidence damage to local homes – while insisting further delays to taking it down could leave the authority ‘facing a financial liability at a level way beyond’ its cash reserves.
Patrick Handscombe, 74, a former deep-sea diver who has owned a home close to the tree since 1983, told last week: ‘The ineptitude for months on this has just been depressing.
‘These are people we elect to look after the interests of the village, and it seems to me that so often they just take the line of least resistance.’
He added: ‘It’s terrible to pull the tree down. I have studied the whole thing very carefully… and I don’t think it’s necessary.
‘It’s such a beautiful and ancient tree and it makes the place look good.’
Val Mainwood, 78, a retired piano teacher, has been among those standing guard next to the tree.
She joined the fight over the ‘suddenness of the decision’ to rip down the oak and is now demanding an independent report into whether the tree needs to be felled.
She said: ‘Nobody was warned about it at all – this is not just about tree-hugging. This is about people’s lives, it’s about people’s houses, it’s about people’s finances.
‘It’s a huge situation and it needs to be properly looked into, and I have no confidence that it has been properly investigated.’
Locals say the tree has only started to become a problem after the car park was tarmacked over several years ago – saying it had caused the oak’s roots to spread further out in search for water.
Yet traders say campaigners are clogging a key lifeline to the town by setting up an encampment in the car park, which they claim is preventing people from visiting Wivenhoe.
Lynn Bell, 53, who runs the local Greyhound pub with husband Nial, told how disruption had seen their trade plunge by 25 per cent.
She added: ‘We feel like we’re just some sort of collateral damage in {the protesters’] argument with the council.
‘It’s now got to the point where this isn’t about the tree anymore, it’s the occupation of the car park.
‘We are suffering. You need to come to an agreement to open the car park. We’re not saying you can’t protest.
‘It’s not even about the tree anymore – you just need to leave the car park so we can all get on with our lives.’
Visitors to Wivenhoe have been encouraged in the meantime to use the town’s other car parks at Cooks Shipyard and Wivenhoe railway station or on-street parking bays.
Insurance firm Aviva has described the situation as ‘a complex and sensitive matter which we are keen to resolve in the best way for all of the parties involved’.
A spokesperson added: ‘Whilst we are unable to share specific details due to policy and customer confidentiality, we are working hard to provide a solution.’