RESIDENTS in St Columb Major are stumped after a much-loved tree in the grounds of the parish church was cut down, seemingly without public consultation.

Anger has grown after it was revealed that St Columb Major Town Council felled the 50-year-old yew tree without initial approval by the Diocese of Truro, which owns the church.

One angry resident said: “The felling of a very old yew tree in the grounds of the church, with no consent and no councillors’ votes, has caused great unrest.”

Another local, who did not want to be named, said: “There was no consultation with the public to gauge opinion, which has been very negative, and appears to be so the church can be seen more clearly when the hurling event starts. There were no health or safety benefits to it. Some have also mentioned it gives the mayor a better view of the church from his office.

“I think during a time when everybody is trying to be more environmentally friendly and looking after the planet this is entirely ridiculous for local representatives to act in this way.”

A large number of people have taken to social media pages dedicated to the town to repeat the accusation that mayor of St Columb Major Paul Wills had the tree removed so he could get a better view of the church.

This is something he strongly denies, but he agrees the view was one of the reasons the yew tree was felled due to its impact on the village’s annual hurling of the silver ball tradition.

Cllr Wills initially responded to concerns with a statement on Facebook, which said: “It is important for residents to know that the tree in question blocked the view of the church and hindered the calling up and throwing up of the hurling ball, as the clock was not visible. Many of the parish hurlers asked for the tree to be removed.

“The tree was not there in years gone by and is a relatively new addition to the churchyard. I can assure you that the council has done everything correctly before the tree was removed. The council is responsible for the maintenance of the closed churchyard and takes great pride in our churchyard.”

However, what he didn’t mention in that statement is that the council removed the tree without seeking permission from the church’s owner, the Diocese of Truro.

Cllr Wills said: “That initial statement wasn’t exactly right. I was sort of rushed into putting something out there. That’s partly it but not completely the reason. This has been going on for over four years. It was the church that initially asked for it to be pruned or taken down.

“We asked four years ago for the diocesan tree officer to come and inspect all the trees in the churchyard.

“He identified that one as being a danger to the footpaths and buildings closest to it because of its invasive roots.”

He added: “The hurlers have complained they couldn’t see the clock, but that wasn’t the overriding reason.

“The Parochial Church Council discussed it at a recent meeting and they had no objections to it coming down. I’ve got to be completely honest, we should have applied for a faculty to the diocesan board, but we thought it was purely maintenance of the churchyard and we didn’t need to. It’s subsequently come out that we should have applied, but the archdeacon (of Cornwall, the Rev Clive Hogger) has accepted our apologies and as far as the church is concerned, the matter is now closed.”

“It was scheduled to come down at the beginning of the year, but the weather was so bad our contractors couldn’t do it. Then it became nesting season and there are certain laws that mean we cannot take trees down during the season, which is completely understandable. The only time they could do it was last week.”

Cllr Wills said: “The ridiculous rumours that I wanted it down so I could get a better view of the church and the hurlers is not true. It was planted in the wrong place, quite frankly, too close to the paths and the buildings, and as it grew it obscured the view of the church. I’ve had loads and loads of people saying it’s so much better now.”

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Truro said: “The diocese is aware that a yew tree has been removed from the graveyard in St Columb Major. The diocesan tree officer had inspected this tree previously and was of the opinion it would be suitable for removal because its roots would likely cause issues for nearby buildings and footpaths.

“There are set processes to go through to remove trees from churchyards and we appreciate the apology that we have received from St Columb Major Town Council who recognise that permission should have been sought. We acknowledge there was a misunderstanding.”