St Jame's Church, Greenfield Street, Holywell, CH8 7PN

Proposal

There are two trees in need of felling on the church grounds both with the potential to cause damage if not cut down. The forestry officer for Flintshire County Council (Stuart Body) has advised as following: Tree 1 The yew has been dying back for several years and is not showing any signs of recovery unfortunately. This is such a shame because the tree is in a prominent and complemented the nearby buildings. There is no obvious reason why the tree has died back. However, I would suggest that the dieback could be due to Phytophthora sp. which causes the observed symptoms of decline but does not have fungal brackets or mushrooms that could confirm its presence. (The best method of confirming the disease is examining the roots and below ground parts of the trunk, which can be combined with a test using a Lateral Flow Device). The tree needs to be felled and I recommend that the church submit a conservation area notification to the Local Planning Authority to this effect. Tree 2 The mature twin stemmed ash on the eastern boundary of the church adjacent to the Castle Mound has ash dieback which is now in its latter stages. I would recommend submitting a conservation area notification to fell the tree.