SIR,

A gap has recently appeared in a long and attractive line of trees in Sedbury Lane, Tutshill, Chepstow.

A gap some 30 metres long, where all the trees have been felled, to ground level, by Gloucestershire County Council.

'Councilspeak' for this drastic action is "coppicing" as "part of a management regime", but where the lesser whitethroat once sang and bluebells grew, nettles now flourish in the gap.

Why the council chose to spend taxpayers' money on this apparently random attack on our countryside is unclear. The council has attempted to ward off criticism by alleging complaints from local residents and citing the magic words "health and safety".

Obviously the council has a duty to selectively remove trees which are dead or dying and might fall on passers-by.

But the council felled 22 major trees in a row, some of considerable stature, with trunk diameters of up to 33 cm. Only four were dead or showed signs of disease. The council also claims that four trees showed "damage due to winter grazing by squirrels", but even assuming that this damage had occurred solely to otherwise healthy trees, this still means that 14 healthy trees were cut down.

More recently, the council has claimed that the area had "started to attract fly-tipping", but although I have challenged them to produce evidence, the council has so far been unable or unwilling to do so. It has also refused to plant replacements for the healthy trees.

Even the councillor for the area, Mr Brian Thornton (Con.) has been unable to obtain any further information from his (unelected) officials, so that the reasons for the felling of the "healthy 14" at taxpayers' expense remain a mystery.

Jim Partington

(Chepstow)