26-05-2025
‘Kill joy Lefties' in Bath Rugby stadium row over oak tree
'Fanatical' Green councillors are embroiled in a row with Bath Rugby Club over its plans to build a new stadium.
Two years ago, Bath Rugby club announced plans for a new 18,000-seater Rugby stadium at the Recreation Ground in Bath city centre.
But Joanna Wright and Saskia Heijltjes have accused the Premiership club of endangering a '200 year plus copper beech tree', which sits just metres away from the proposed structure.
'They are literally building this stadium within three metres of the tree,' Ms Wright, a Green Party councillor for Lambridge Ward, told The Telegraph.
'It's a 200 year plus copper beech tree which is a heritage veteran tree. These trees are important in our landscape, one of the reasons Bath is part of the UNESCO heritage site is because of its green setting.'
She objected to the plans because she believed putting in foundations of the stadium would involve digging on the root system of the tree, which could then damage the tree in the process.
Sir Jacob Rees Mogg, who lives a 30-minute drive from the proposed stadium, supported the rugby club and told the Telegraph that it was a case of 'fanatical greens' and 'typical kill joy Lefties'.
He said: 'As the Club is promising to protect the tree, it sounds as if the fanatical greens are trying to stop the development. Typical kill joy lefties.'
Bath Rugby club has disputed Ms Wright's claims and said the design proposals would protect the tree. The club also said that it has to spend around £1 million every year assembling and disassembling temporary stands.
Tarquin McDonald, the chief executive, told the BBC: 'If we were not able to redevelop [the stadium], it calls into question our ability to stay here long term. That would be tragic for the city and the club.'
Ms Wright hit back at Sir Jacob's comments, describing his statement as 'utter tosh'.
She said: 'Just because you want to protect nature doesn't make you a crazy fanatic.
'I have nothing against rugby, but I also want to protect trees. Veteran trees should be supported in our urban landscape. They are as important culturally as rugby is - it's about coming to a compromise to deliver that... They are essentially going to build within the zone of the root system of the tree.
'It has a 21 metre root protection area, which would be dramatically reduced to 3 metres under the current plans.
'They are building the edge of the stadium within metres of this tree. Therefore they are putting in groundworks. If you think about foundations of any building, they are going to have to dig a long way down for that.
'I can't see how it's possible to preserve the tree and build the foundations.'
Residents of Bath have also been objecting to the proposals on the planning application which was submitted.
One objector, Susan Macdonald said: 'The bulk of the application is not about playing rugby. This is about building a hospitality complex.
'We the residents will have endure this even more massive stadium design, destroying the listed buildings landscape and seriously risking our UNESCO world heritage status'.
