A petition calling for a design review of plans that could see 18 trees in Walton-le-Dale felled has been presented in the House of Commons by the area’s MP.
The Environment Agency (EA) is proposing to fell 18 of the 21 lime trees, which were planted in 1912 to commemorate the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911 according to research undertaken by history fans within the Royal Limes campaign group.
The EA say the flood defence scheme proposed for the Victoria Road area needs the trees removed – and the plans were approved by South Ribble Borough Council’s planning committee in March.
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But it was only after the planning committee approved the plans in March that the Save The Royal Limes campaign group began to build momentum and more than 7,000 people have now signed a petition against the felling of the trees.
The petition was presented to the Commons by Labour MP for Ribble Valley Maya Ellis on Wednesday evening (10 June).
Ellis said: “I’m delighted to present this petition on behalf of Walton-le-Dale residents in my constituency of Ribble Valley regarding the potential felling of 18 Royal Lime trees, which have stood for over 112 years.
“Petitions here and on a similar separate e-petition with almost 8,000 signatures feel the Environment Agency have not sufficiently factored in local heritage in their preferred flooding solution.
“The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the government to direct the Environment Agency to commit to an independent review of the Victoria Road design in the Preston and South Ribble Flood Risk Management Scheme and to provide flood defences that are environmentally responsible, respect local heritage and reduce community disruption.”
A judicial review into the plans is ongoing.
The Environment Agency said that it carried out a consultation from 5 May to 5 June in 2025 which included briefings, a drop-in event and literature delivered to 6,500 homes local to the area.
It said that the results of the consultation showed support for the scheme and that recent door-knocking activity has demonstrated that those who would be directly affected by any flooding continue to be in favour.
Campaigners have made the point that previous flooding events, including in January 2025, did not come as a result of the flood defences failing but rather as a result of drainage issues.
The Environment Agency, however, said the plans are aimed at preventing future floods that may come as a result of failing defences, rather than in response to previous events.
Issues with drainage in the area are the responsibility of United Utilities and Lancashire County Council. However, the Environment Agency says there is evidence that the trees roots are ingressing into the drains.
Speaking after a public meeting on Monday (8 June), Damian North, chair of the Save the Royal Limes group, told Blog Preston: “The amount of local anger came across and it was extremely well-turned out. I think the EA did not know the anger at the plans and they were quite shocked.
“Very few people knew about it and we think they did the bare minimum to make people aware. The EA said there is only one way to do this and it involves cutting down the trees, so for that reason we don’t blame the planning committee at South Ribble.
“But there clearly is another way and it results in the trees not being cut down at all and achieves the flood defences. For legal reasons I’m not allowed to disclose what that is. One of our group has proposed a different way and that’s the option we want the EA to adopt.”
A protest is also being planned in Victoria Road in front of the trees from 12pm on Saturday 20 June.
The campaign group say they want it to be a ‘family-fun peaceful protest’ and will take place for around two hours.
