RESIDENTS have voiced anger after trees in memory of pupils and staff who have died while at a Barry Secondary school were axed.

The trees were near the current entrance of Whitmore High School, formerly Barry Boys and Barry Comprehensive, which opened in 1966.

Plans for a £32million new Barry secondary school building, in the Port Road West site, were approved in July 2019.

The Vale of Glamorgan Council maintained the action complied with the Local Development Plan 2011-2026 (LDP) and new trees would be planted.

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A resident, who did not want to be named, said: “I find it hard to express my feelings on seeing that all the trees in the Remembrance garden at the front of Whitmore High School have been felled.

“Most of those trees, if not all, were planted in memory of members of staff and pupils who died while at the school.

“When I heard that it was in the plans for the new school that those trees should be chopped down, I rang the council and was told that they have the authority to do so.”

The resident added: “I fail to see how destroying mature, living trees squares with this development plan.”

Another resident said: “I’m sorry to see that those trees have disappeared.

“There was so much wildlife in them, birds nesting and squirrels chasing each other through the branches.”

Another resident added: “Did they really have to take them down?

“The change of colours through the seasons will be sorely missed.”

A Vale council spokesman said: “This development received the necessary planning approval and is completely consistent with the council’s local development plan.

“It has long been the plan to relocate this garden to accommodate new state-of the-art sporting facilities at Whitmore High for use by both the school and local community.”

The Vale council spokesman added: “A number of trees have been removed, none of which had Tree Preservation Orders (TROs), and 420 replacement saplings, covering an area the size of a football pitch, will be arriving from the Woodland Trust later this month.

“These saplings will play an important learning and recreational role for pupils as well as providing food and shelter for wildlife. Once the trees are mature, they will absorb around 420 tonnes of carbon per year. The council’s 21st Century Schools team and contractors will help the school to plant, care for and monitor the saplings as part of the community benefits element of the programme.”

The LDP states it is vitally important to ensure development proposals safeguard existing mature trees and hedgerows by ensuring that careful consideration is given to them and the areas around them at the earliest stages of development.

New development should seek to enhance existing tree stock through the introduction of newly planted trees and hedgerows.