Campaigners call on Northampton residents to adopt a street tree

Campaign group Save Our Street Trees Northampton (SOST) of Far Cotton wants tree-lovers to turn vulnerable street trees into their ‘Adoptrees’ to show how much they value them.

Alice Whitehead, 40, of Far Cotton, is the face behind the campaign and is urging the local authority to maintain and manage the trees in her area to make it a more attractive and healthy place to live.

Adopt a Street Tree’s seven pledges include giving the trees regular hugs, tidying up tree pits and sharing tree stories and photos.

During National Tree Week (November 24-December 2), the campaign is calling on residents to 'highLIGHT' their street trees by decorating them with fairy lights.

“Many of our urban trees have been lost over the last two decades in Northampton, and particularly in Far Cotton, due to poor maintenance – with very few being replaced,” says SOST founder and resident Alice Whitehead.

“We hope the event will help families get to know their leafy neighbours and take care of them – and in doing so once again urge Northampton County Council and Northampton Borough Council to do more to properly maintain the trees and ‘replace in situ’ those that are lost.”

The Far Cotton-based campaign group began promoting the benefits and beauty of street trees in 2016 – championing their preservation, maintenance and replacement in the FarCotton area and wider Northampton.

Alice, who claims trees increase well-being as well as property value and stronger community relationships, started a petition last December to galvanise support to get Northamptonshire County Council to replace those that have been cut down.

Northampton Borough Council maintain the highway trees on behalf of the county council.

Find out more and to download an adoption poster see: Twitter: @savestreettrees, Instagram/Facebook: @saveourstreettrees or email:[email protected]