Protest against cutting down 60 plane trees in Gistel

The residents of De Kleine Warande in Gistel do not want the eighty-year-old and iconic plane trees in their street to be cut down. Nele Baguet: “First of all, it is a beautiful sight. I think everyone who comes here knows that it is one of the most beautiful streets in Gistel. In addition, we cannot deny that it means a lot to us for the noise of the highway. which is stopped. In the summer it creates coolness. It is much cooler here than in other streets. The sound of the birds, you can also hear them in the background. It would be a great loss, those trees.”

Not only Nele is concerned. A survey shows that 99 percent of the residents of the Kleine Warande want to keep the trees. They called in the non-profit organization Protect Trees and Nature and lodged an objection against the felling.

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Gauthier Defreyne, Mayor Gistel: “The residents have every right to do that. I am a bit surprised because we have held a residents’ meeting in the past. And I thought the consensus was, we will continue with the plans but we will provide additional trees.”

The trees have to disappear because their roots have grown through the old sewers. They also stand in the way of the construction of a new footpath, the city says. There will be a new residents’ meeting.