Demonstration held at South Shields Town Hall over felling of mature trees at South Tyneside College site

Members of the South Tyneside Tree Action Group (STTAG) gathered at South Shields Town Hall on Thursday evening (November 30) to hold a demonstration over the potential felling on more than 140 healthy mature trees in the borough.

The protest relates to plans from Avant Homes to build on the current South Tyneside College site once it is relocated.

As part of the plans, the trees will be felled to allow for demolition work of the College and South Shields Marine School.

Initially the plans stated that around 160 trees would be felled; however, at the start of November, Avant Homes updated them to save 13 that were due to be cut down.

Colin Porter, who lives near to the Grosvenor Road site, set up a petition to urge the housing developer to reconsider plans to chop down the trees.

At the time of writing, the online petition has 4,143 signatures, with a paper version having been signed almost 800 times.

Colin was at the demonstration on Thursday evening and has told the Gazette that many trees could be saved if Avant Homes tweak their plans.

The 64-year-old commented: "We have managed to save some trees but we still stand to lose around 146 so we are still trying to save as many as we can.

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"We've looked at the plans and worked out that if Avant Homes were to build 10 less houses, all the trees at the current entrance to South Tyneside College could be saved.

"The meeting to consider the plans is set to be held on December 18 so we wanted to make our voices heard ahead of this.

"The ideal scenario would be to revamp the College where it is rather than relocating it, especially as there will be a huge bio-diversity impact if the trees are lost.

"Saving the trees is about the future, we need them for the next generation."

Avant Homes North East has previously told the Gazette that the developer is working with South Tyneside Council regarding the issue of the trees.

A spokesperson for the company said: “We are currently liaising with South Tyneside Council regarding our planning application for the South Shields Marine School site on Grosvenor Road.

“As part of this, we are in ongoing discussions regarding the trees at the site and will continue to engage with the local authority on this matter throughout the planning process.”

You can view the online petition by visiting: https://www.change.org/p/help-save-healthy-mature-trees-from-housing-development-south-tyneside-college-site.