Coventry campaigners plan record tree hug in bid to save 26 trees

A group of residents are planning a record tree hug as part of a bid to save 26 trees from being cut down to make way for a new cycleway.

Campaigners are attempting to break the mass tree hugging record by forming a human chain of more than 700 people along Clifford Bridge Road, Coventry, on Saturday.

Under plans from the council, trees on the road will be removed to make way for the last stretch of the Binley cycleway, linking the city centre with the hospital.

Coventry City Council said the trees would be replaced with new ones which would provide “greater long-term benefits”.

However, residents want the plans to be redesigned or a “less destructive” route to be found, with more than 4,000 people signing a petition calling for the council to save the threatened trees which they say provide habitats for wildlife.

Campaigner Dawn McCann told BBC CWR the trees had been on the road for “decades”.

“They stop pollution, they give out oxygen, they take up gallons of water because as you go down the road towards the river, the houses at the bottom, the gardens flood,” she explained.

“Once you take these trees out and put saplings in, it’s going to 30-40 years before they’re able to absorb the quantity of water that these trees absorb.”

Ms McCann said residents also had safety concerns about the new cycleway, as they could be reversing out of their driveways on to the busy main road.

“The concern of the residents is they don’t want to knock a cyclist off a bike and kill them,” she said.

The group needs 703 people to beat the record for the largest number of people involved in a tree hug, which was previously set in Cheshire.

A council spokesperson added: “The trees advertised for removal on Clifford Bridge Road are primarily in average condition with limited usable lifespan, and some are Ash trees affected by Ash dieback.

“Trees are an important part of moving towards net zero [carbon], and we will plant more trees than we remove.”