Environmental campaigners have drawn attention to tree-felling works in their Buckinghamshire town which appear to have been 'harming the local environment' for ‘no clear reason’.

Paul Jennings, chair of the River Chess Association, raised concerns on the group’s Facebook page last Thursday (January 25) after spotting what looked like a “new development site” between Moor Road and Chesham Railway in Chesham, despite the absence of a corresponding planning application online.

The development – which appeared to consist of multiple-tree felling – also caught the attention of Buckinghamshire Council, and the local authority issued a Tree Preservation Order for the area on Friday, January 26.

While the works have now been halted, with the order prohibiting the cutting down of any more trees without the council’s consent, Paul is centrally concerned that the developers who began work at the Chesham site were trying to sidestep the normal planning regulations and “do all the work they could get away with before dealing with the law”.

He added: “Technically, they haven’t done anything that could have been considered a breach, but the issue is with the intent - you don't cut down this many trees for no reason. 

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"If they went through the usual process, they would have had to prove that any development would improve biodiversity and they’d have to take things like the nearby bodies of water and high levels of groundwater into account.

“We’d be happy to engage with a planning application, but you need to do those environmental and damage surveys first. There has been no evidence of that.”

Speaking on Friday, Peter Strachan, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration at Buckinghamshire Council said: “We are aware of the concerns raised regarding the clearance works in Chesham and can confirm that we are investigating the case.

“At this time, no breach of planning control has been established, but the investigation will remain open so the site can be monitored.”

The council’s tree preservation order describes the site between Moor Road and the Railway as home to “an attractive group (of trees) with good amenity value now and in the future”, marking “an important visual and ecological contribution to the River Chess, an internationally important chalk stream”.

The order adds: “The reasons for the works are not clear and, in the absence of supporting evidence of obvious need, (they) are considered excessive and harmful in terms of tree health and amenity.”