Tree surgeon Jason Clarke leads protest against extra car parking spaces at Newark Library

Protesters were keen to “say trees” for the Advertiser photographer and TV cameras as around 150 adults and children gathered by Newark Library. They were protesting against the planned removal of four mature trees to make way for 36 extra car parking spaces.

The protest was organised by local arborist and tree surgeon, Jason Clarke.

He said: “It’s been a great success. We’ve got lots of people here, raising the profile of the issue and it will hopefully make the council re-think their decision.”

Mr Clarke’s daughter Anna, 12, got an aerial view of the gathering as her father hoisted her up into a threatened sycamore tree for the duration of the protest.

Newark and Sherwood District Council planning committee considered the council’s own application before Christmas and the committee voted by eight to five to convert green space between the library and the former municipal offices on Baldertongate into more parking spaces.

Council business manager Matt Lamb said the car park was very busy through the day and extra spaces would ease congestion.

A council spokesman also said the proposed development would include four replacement trees plus 16 more nearby.

The old municipal buildings and the green beside them are no longer owned by the council but by the Derry family. But four Newark pressure groups joined forces to lodge a complaint about the planners’ decision - Newark Civic Trust, Newark Sports Association, Professionals in Newark and Save Newark’s Green Spaces, a group set up as a direct result of residents getting together to object to these proposals.

Their spokesman Jenni Harding said: “We’re delighted with the turnout - especially seeing the children here with their banners - because it’s all about their future.

“All the adults who haven’t already signed the petition against cutting down the trees have been signing it.”

Some 136 extra signatures were gathered on the day bringing the total at the time of writing to more than 247 signatories on paper plus 1,290 online.”

Local tree surgeons including Simon Walsh and Maurice Richardson, who unearthed the famous Newark Torc.

Jason Clarke estimated the four lime and sycamore trees to be between 80 and 120 years old: “These trees are the oldest things around here. They are a link between the past and the present. My children will be very old people by the time those newly planted trees have any degree of stature.”

Sign the petition online look for Newark and Sherwood District Council on the AVAAZ Community Petitions website.