Planned Otley tree felling cancelled by Leeds City Council after protestors hold demonstrations

The council announced earlier this week that it planned to go ahead with the felling of two trees near to Otley Bridge this morning (Friday) in spite of strong opposition from some local quarters.

Protestors had camped next to the trees this morning and one man had climbed up among the branches, forcing contractors to abandon the plans.

The council has said that it needs to remove the trees so that a temporary footbridge can be installed while work is carried out on the “deteriorating” bridge.

It has said that if the trees are not felled by the end of February - when bird nesting season starts - then it will have to reduce the bridge to single lane traffic with three-way temporary traffic signals for the duration of the works, which are expected to last until late Autumn.

One of those at this morning’s demonstration was local resident and former councillor and Lord Mayor for Leeds Gerry Harper, who said that there are “alternative ways to deal” with the matter.

He said that the matter was “splitting Otley in half”, with many residents wanting to see the trees cut down to avoid traffic disruption in the town.

Another protestor at the scene said that the council’s plans had been “called off for the weekend”.

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A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: "On Tuesday 28 January the council published a decision notice approving the removal of two trees near to Otley Bridge from Friday 31 January.

“This morning, contractors arrived on site and were unable to carry out these works due to the presence of protestors within the fenced off area.

“For the reasons clearly set out in the decision notice and subsequent press release, it remains our intention to fell the two trees."