Triangle Trees for the Chop?

The Triangle Market area is graced by an infamously iconic architectural landmark we know as The Triangle Sails.

Immediately in front of them are some trees, planted around 30 years ago.

About five days ago temporary fences were erected in around the trees and the area below the sails.

Immediately, rumours started to circulate that the Town Council were about to chop down the trees.

On 27th September Lowestoft Town Council had voted to remove the sails, and work out ways to “...make it more visually appealing.” (LTC Minutes,27 Sept 2022 Full Council Meeting).

Given that the trees are possibly the main thing which make the area 'visually appealing' the rumour was worth investigating.

Lowestoft Old and Now has reached out to Lowestoft Town Council for official comment.

We have chatted with the two guys working on the site and from this LO&N wonders if the vote on 27th and the slab replacement are unconnected. Apart from the legality of the situation, LTC have just announced (25th Oct 2022)  “...Lowestoft Town Council declared Lowestoft an Earth Protector Town...” to complement their earlier decision in 2019 to recognise “We are in a Climate Emergency”.

It seems unlikely that after declaring to protect the earth the first thing they would do would be chop down trees, trees which include an in memoriam to the son of one of Lowestoft's respected artists, John Reay. On the other hand, another rumour suggests that the Jamie Reay Memorial tree is safe, the others are doomed.

The eventual possible removal of the sails may or may not be welcomed, but in the meantime, making the area surface safer to walk on seems a good idea. The fate of the trees is, as yet, unknown.

Some of the slabs appear to have been forced up by the root growth of the trees, and the ones on the corner of the site (where the fencing direction changes from southerly to westerly) were perhaps the result of root pressure from the now-gone apple tree just the other side the fencing. And given that the area is regularly used for parking, maybe cars had something to do with the instability of the area.

At the time of publishing LO&N had not received a reply from Lowestoft Town Council