Please find below some information to clarify the situation with regards to the tree netting. We are aware of recent media interest in this locally and nationally.
Cambridgeshire County Council has submitted a planning application to remove the trees as part of a scheme to extend Highfield Ely Special School and provide children and young people with complex needs significantly improved accommodation. The trees have been netted to ensure that no birds start to nest in them whilst the planning application is being determined.
If the application is approved the trees are scheduled to be removed to allow the necessary extension works to take place during the summer. In compensation for the loss of the trees, improvements will be made to the outside area, which includes a landscaping scheme and 22 new trees. New habitats will be provided to encourage biodiversity, including native hedgerow planting, new shrub beds and some bat and bird boxes.