On Friday (25.10.24) the long-awaited five replacement drought tolerant 4m trees were planted in the Central Square, two cherry trees (Prunus Umineko) either side of the bus stop and one Hornbeam (Carpinus Betulus Fastigiata) at the rear of the car park.

Background: When the previous property management company (LCP) reconfigured the car park at the Square they removed five trees that under the planning application they were going to replace, but in 2021 it never happened, despite the installation of five tree grills that had not been dug out or assessed for underground utilities.

In early 2023, the Friends of Maghull & District (FOMD) in an unprecedented collective action with other local charities (Maghull in Bloom, Maghull & Aughton Rotary) and Maghull Town Council raised over £2000 to pay for the trees with a commitment from the property management team (Evolve) to excavate the five tree pits. However, for a variety of reasons, they did not proceed, and following a protracted wait, we returned the hard-earned funds, and reluctantly referred the matter to Sefton Planning Enforcement in November 2023 and copied the problem to local councillors and our MP.

Throughout the year, Sefton planning had approached Evolve to no avail. Consequently, they referred the enforcement to their legal team for action.

In the meantime, Evolve’s new regional manager Steve Divine kindly secured funding for the tree planting that will be a fantastic asset for the local community and complement the uplifting floral displays undertaken by Maghull in Bloom.

Many thanks to:

Steve Devine (new Regional Estates Manager for Evolve Property Management) for promptly and efficiently facilitating the trees work whilst providing excellent communication throughout. In addition, he is kindly arranging for future maintenance including a watering regime during spring and summer for the first two years.
David Fogarty (JA Jones Tree Nursery for his usual unrivalled advice and planting expertise) and Mark Mahood (Sales Manager) for his patience in keeping the tree’s alive over the year whilst out of the ground, waiting for the work to be undertaken.
Graeme (pictured) Atlas Architects and his landscaping team RJW (Huddersfield) for very professionally scanning for utilities and excavating the tree pits, whilst remaining good humoured and friendly throughout despite the 5 o’clock start from Huddersfield!
Councillors Judith Hardman, Phil Hart, James Hansen and Bill Esterson (MP) for their support.
Ben Greenaway (Mersey Forest) for his expert advice on suitable tree types and planting

Massive FOMD Tree Planting Program Planned in Maghull later in the year. Please register your interest to help planting, by emailing admin@fomd.co.uk with your contact details and we will be delighted to get back to you to offer you some dates for our community tree planting program.

All the best,

FOMD.

Together Making Maghull a better place to live.

More information. www.fomd.co.uk

Contact: admin@fomd.co.uk

#fomdcic #Maghull #Environment