Plans for Deptford St Paul's churchyard

21 Oct 2003

The Archdeacon of Lewisham, the The Venerable Christine Hardman, held a constructive meeting with community representatives on 29 September. The meeting took place because of concerns expressed by the local community about planned felling of trees in the churchyard.

Having listened to the concerns raised by the community representatives The Venerable Christine Hardman agreed that she would consider the points carefully before further work on the churchyard was undertaken.

The Archdeacon and St Paul's Church Council now propose the following programme:

• Five trees that are too close to the church and obstructing the building work will be removed, as previously agreed with the community representatives. Apart from those five, no trees will be felled in the immediate future, while the work on the church is continued.
• Subject to the approval of the Borough Council, one dead elm will be cut down as far as the graft.
• The Borough will be asked to carry out a complete tree survey in the churchyard, as they had already offered to do.
• In light of the survey, an overall management plan will be produced for the churchyard.

The Archdeacon says: "The community were clearly very concerned about the future of the trees in the churchyard and I am glad that we have been able to listen to each others' concerns both for the environment and the future of the church."

The restoration project at St Paul's Deptford, an historic and important Grade I listed building, has involved considerable work to the building over a number of years, as well as some alterations and improvements to the landscaping.

Ends.