Sir Winston’s grandson, Lord Soames of Fletching said its removal was a “wicked thing to do” and questioned why access could not have been moved to accommodate the tree.
Campaigners have lost their fight to prevent the felling of a tree planted to commemorate the death of wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.
In the village of about 600 people campaigners had amassed more than 58,000 signatures on a petition to save the “Sir Winston” oak.
Despite a number of alternative suggestions for entrances to the site, including making a roundabout with the tree in the middle, Cossington Parish Council was told it would be felled “by the end of February”.
The oak, planted in memory of the famous politician, was removed on Friday to create an entrance to a new housing development in Cossington in Leicestershire.
Villagers said they were devastated to see the tree, planted in 1967, cut down.
Developer Bellway said there was no alternative access to their 130-home development off Main Street.
“I can’t bear to even see the site [of the tree],” said Penny Weston-Webb, 86, who was at the planting ceremony.
Weston-Webb, who cried after the tree was removed on Friday, said villagers had hoped to persuade the developer to spare the tree and find an alternative route into the estate.
“We have done everything to try to keep it. It’s such a shame to have lost a part of our village’s history. I am devastated, I really am,” she said.
Ms Weston-Webb added: “To a lot of people it was a memory of the Second World War. A lot of people from the village fought and we lost quite a few.”
Her father, Winston Martin, was blind in one eye, meaning the Army did not call him up for service during World War II.
Instead, he converted his hosiery factory to making parachutes for British troops to “do his bit”. “He would be horrified,” she said of the tree’s felling. “He loved the village.”
Villagers have been lobbying councils to save the tree since planning permission for the homes was approved in 2022.
Emma Crowe, clerk of Cossington Parish Council, said: “We are all very saddened.
“The tree was a highlight in the village.”
Crowe said the tree’s trunk had been salvaged and there were plans to sculpt it in a theme connected to Churchill with the resulting work of art then displayed somewhere in the village.
Villager Ian Bott, who was 10 when the tree was planted by then parish council chairman Jack Meadows, said he went down to watch the tree being removed.
“It was not a good day for me and it is a very sad time,” he said.
Residents gathered sombrely on Friday morning to watch workers reduce the tree to a stump in a five-hour procedure.
Leicestershire County Council, which is now led by Reform UK, said the oak was not the subject of a tree preservation order. Its highways department approved the development plans, alongside Charnwood Borough Council.
‘No Alternative Access’
A sapling has already been grown from one of the specimen’s acorns and is to be planted nearby.
A spokesperson for the developer said: “Bellway is due to start work on a new development of 130 homes in Cossington in the coming weeks.
“The land was purchased with outline planning permission in place which required the removal of the oak tree at the entrance to the site, with the consent of Leicestershire County Council’s highways department.
“There was no alternative access point.
“Bellway has liaised with the parish council since purchasing the land and progressing through the final stages of planning.
“Following this, Bellway agreed to hand over the remains of the tree to the parish with the intention for a sculpture to be created.
“In addition, Bellway will plant a number of new trees on site as part of the landscaping plan for the development.”
The Telegraph
BBC Leicester
Daily Express
Tree Weaver 