Three protected trees on St Matthew’s Piece still under threat of felling!
Another guest post on behalf of Friends of St Matthew’s Piece.

[W]e believe the Council really must refuse the application. It should make it clear to insurers that underpinning is inappropriate, and if that were to be a solution pursued by insurers it must have the opportunity to be fully involved with proper assessment of the genuine requirements of the house and the contribution of the trees (if any) to alleged damage. It must rationally do this to be able properly to assess the position. We believe the position is so obvious that the Council would be acting irrationally and opening itself to judicial review if it were to make any decision to fell without fully investigating the matter from an arboricultural and engineering perspective and indeed dealing with amenity values in a rational way.
Letter from Richard Buxton, Solicitors, instructed by Friends of St Matthew’s Piece, 21 June 2025 paragraph 10
We understand the matter is (inexplicably) being expedited, also that the Council is not providing livestream, which given the controversial nature of the issues is concerning.
ibid paragraph 2
Especially considering the amounts [of money] in question, it is anyway extraordinary that the Council’s engineer has only assessed documents submitted by the applicant, rather than being asked to advise independently on the extent of alleged damage, the contribution (if any) by the trees, and on appropriate repair. On all these points it is obviously essential for the Council to be fully and independently informed, to assess the merits of the claim and if there is some contribution by the trees, how much of the alleged damage the Council should be responsible for paying for if one arises.
ibid paragraph 7
Read/download the letter in its entirety here.

The fate of the three St Matthew’s Piece trees will be considered by the Cambridge City Council Planning Committee again on Wednesday 25 June 2025.
This is the link to the planning application 25/0432/TTPO.
Friends of St Matthew’s Piece campaign colleagues have risen magnificently to the extraordinary challenge: reading, thinking, discussing, coordinating, consulting, researching, drafting and redrafting speaking points and essential correspondence, while supporting each other through the last few extremely intensive days of preparation for the Committee. It has been an honour to work with such a dedicated and fine group of people.
Val Neal
- the community – without whom none of this is possible – has given a mighty roar, with well over 100 objections simmering on the planning portal;
- for the first time, local residents have been donating to a fighting fund, in defence of our precious trees;
- interest in attending and observing the Planning meeting – Wednesday 25 June 2025 10:00 am Small Hall, The Guildhall, Market Square, Cambridge, CB2 3QJ – is high;
- interlocking sets of speaking points have been researched, drafted, timed and carefully finalised for two Friends of St Matthew’s Piece supporters (Kit Holland and Ben Grieg) who will present the Friend’s viewpoint to the Planning Committee;
- there has been equally close coordination with the four Cambridge City Councillors who will also each address their equivalent set of carefully crafted material (Elliot Tong, Jean Glasberg, Richard Robinson and Mike Davey);
- a powerful Report has been commissioned, reviewed and finalised by an eminent Structural Engineer, Philip Cooper [BSc (Eng), MA (Cantab), CEng, FICE, FIStructE)], with decades of experience in “reading the signs of movement in buildings and interpreting the possible reasons for distortion or cracking of the structure” – exactly ‘what the doctor ordered’!
- as you can read in the full copy – read/download here– his trenchant summary clearly spells out that:
- The reported “slight” cracking, from 2019, is stable;
- It was caused not by foundation movement, or by clay, or by tree roots – but by normal changes in the masonry;
- The insurer should pay for suitable inexpensive repairs;
- Underpinning, using a piled raft, is not warranted;
- “To blame the Plane trees for these minor signs of movement is simply wrong”;
- Felling the Plane Trees would probably make matters worse (due to heave);
- There is no evidence proving that the Plane trees are causing continuing nuisance.
- complementary to this, we have also secured the services of Richard Buxton, the prominent specialist solicitor in planning and environmental law (see above);
- Buxton’s robust scrutiny of the merits of this intimidating application concludes that the Council must refuse the application, even warning of the risk of judicial review, if the felling of these Plane Trees were permitted without having pursued a more rigorous approach.
- Cooper’s thorough, firm and clear Report has already been shared with Planning Committee Members, in anticipation of their deliberations next week, and is promised to be made available on the planning portal with all due speed.
- We are all desperately hoping for a comprehensive refusal of this repeated application to fell three veteran, treasured St Matthew’s Piece trees.
If you can attend the Meeting of the Cambridge City Council Planning Committee in the Small Hall, The Guildhall, Market Square, Cambridge, CB2 3QJ [access the building via Peashill entrance View directions] please do.
Friends of St Matthew’s Piece commissioned a Structural Engineer’s report and of a specialist solicitor in planning and environmental law.
Please help restore Friends of St Matthew’s Piece’s depleted funds if you are able…
- By bank transfer:
Bank: Lloyds
Account Name: Cambridge Friends of the Earth
Sort Code: 30-13-55
Account Number: 00936388
Please also email camfoe@yahoo.co.uk, to say who paid the donation, and how much, eg “Dear Cambridge Friends of the Earth, Today I donated £[how much] for Friends of St Matthew’s Piece, by bank transfer, [your name].”
This is because some essential information may not show in the bank statement.
It can also help to identify your donation if it is not a round figure, eg £5.03 or £4.97 rather than £5.00. - By PayPal
Send to camfoe@yahoo.co.uk
Ref: FoSMP - By cheque
Payable to ‘Cambridge Friends of the Earth’
Marked on the back ‘For Friends of St Matthew’s Piece’
Posted to Friends of St Matthew’s Piece, c/o lan Ralls (FoE), Suite 101, 23 King St, Cambridge CB1 1AH
THE ESSENTIAL BACKGROUND
Local residents have been fighting to protect and conserve local amenity and environmental assets via Friends of St Matthew’s Piece since 30thApril 2020 – and, before that, via Petersfield Area Community Trust, since 1998). Friends of St Matthew’s Piece stand on the shoulders of the giants who, 100 years earlier, in 1898 had established St Matthew’s Piece. This included planting the magnificent London Plane trees that provide all of us with such wonderful benefits today. Read more on the history of St Matthew’s Piece, on the St Matthew’s Piece Timeline 1890–2020.
If you would like to join Friends of St Matthew’s Piece or assist in any of the issues raised in this blogpost, kindly hosted by Mill Road Bridges, please email Friends of St Matthew’s Piece.
FOR THE FUTURE…
To be kept up to date, please email Friends of St Matthew’s Piece, and ask to be added to the Friends of St Matthew’s Piece Supporter’s List. You will be led through a data-collection-compliant sign-up process. This will make sure you receive very occasional email updates on issues like this one.
Earlier Mill Road Bridges blogposts on the three trees are referenced below:
- St Matthew’s Piece Trees – Rinse and Repeat? 8 May 2025
- “We intend to protect these trees in any way we can” 15 November 2024
- St Matthew’s Piece Trees – To The Barricades! (Barriers) 1 November 2024
- Not ANOTHER One! 17 June 2024
- St Matthew’s Piece Trees – Saved! 3 November 2023
- St Matthew’s Piece Trees – The Crucial Meeting 31 October 2023
- St Matthew’s Piece Trees – The Final Frontier? 27 October 2023
- St Matthew’s Piece Trees – “Why don’t the planners…?” 15 August 2023
- St Matthew’s Piece Trees – Safe? 5 August 2023
- St Matthew’s Piece Trees – STILL under threat! 28 July 2023
- St Matthew’s Piece Trees (Again) 11 February 2023
- St Matthew’s Piece Trees – Under Threat 28 May 2022
Please forward this blogpost to people who care about trees in or around Cambridge!
