Cheshire East should be encouraging town councils to plant trees rather than putting unnecessary obstacles and costs in the way, two Tory councillors said.

The comments came as the highways and transport committee debated a notice of motion (NOM) from Knutsford councillors Tony Dean (Con) and Quentin Abel (Ind) calling on Cheshire East to work with town and parish councils to identify suitable locations for tree planting and hedgerow creation.

The NOM was put forward after Knutsford Town Council had been seeking permission from Cheshire East to plant trees and hedgerow on highways land since 2019. Highways officers told the town council the existing policy will have to be changed before new planting can be permitted.

Cllr Dean (pictured below) told today's meeting (Thursday) he was pleased a new policy on tree planting was being devised but asked that, in the meantime, the existing rules be applied in a common-sense way.

Councillor Tony Dean - Photo: Cheshire East Council

"In there [current rules], is a requirement for a street works permit under licence," said Cllr Dean. "As I understand it, the current licence fee is prohibitively expensive, so it's unlikely that practically many trees will be planted.

"Is there any leeway within the rules to make sure that… physically, people actually can plant trees without bankrupting themselves."

Dane Valley councillor Les Gilbert (Con) said: "We seem to express a willingness to work with local councils but we expect them to pay not only for the tree planting that they wish to undertake, but also be responsible for ongoing maintenance.

Councillor Les Gilbert - Photo: Cheshire East Council

"So what I would like to see, when this comes back in in the form of draft policy, that we do everything we possibly can to encourage tree planting and not put obstacles in the way unnecessarily."

He added: "I see that Knutsford Town Council get a mention in respect to their tree planting aspirations – nice to see that somewhere other than Crewe and Macclesfield is getting a bit of attention for a change. But I would like to think that we could adopt an even-handed approach to our dealings with local councils and that Knutsford won't be singled out for priority… The key, surely, has to be, the right tree in the right place."

Sandbach councillor Laura Crane (Lab), who was chairing the meeting, replied: "I'd like to assure people that, should the administration stay the same after May, no town is ever singled out for attention, it is always the right thing in the right place – and, as you say with trees, it should be the right tree in the right place, regardless of where that might be."

The committee voted unanimously to endorse the response to the NOM, which included noting the proposed development of a highway tree planting policy in the next 12 to 18 months.