A new consultation process is to be carried out by Marlborough town council to gauge reaction of residents to the planting of up to three apple trees on The Green as part of Marlborough’s Apple Day project.
The move follows confrontation with some residents last month when planting was attempted and a handful of residents protested with the result that the apple trees – still in pots — were removed.
Now the council’s Open Spaces and Amenities Committee has agreed to produce a new consultation leaflet which will go on the council’s new website, due to be launched next month.
The questionnaire survey will also be issued as a cut-out item to be returned to the town council in next month’s Town and Country magazine council report.
“There will also be a hand-delivered consultation document which will go to everybody who lives within the vicinity of The Green,” town clerk Shelley Parker told Marlborough News Online.
“One of the problems is that the soil on the Green is not ideal for planting fruit trees. We have actually said in a short paragraph before the survey questions that up to three trees will be planted in the best soil — on the west side of the Green.
“We are not really thinking anymore about planting trees on the east side, where there is really nothing at all for trees to flourish. Our head gardener will find the very best place in which to plant them.
“The trouble is that there is very hard rubble underneath the grass. I don’t know enough about apple trees, but if the roots want to spread they just wouldn’t survive. The aim is to find the very best place for one or more trees.”
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