EVERY tree cut down in Bromsgrove should have a pair of new ones planted in its place, insist two environmentally-minded councillors.

Councillors Michael Thompson and Harrison Rone-Clarke are calling for a change in Bromsgrove District Council's tree-felling policy after finding out it does not keep track of how many are cut down.

The council has defended its policy, insisting only 'dead, diseased or dangerous' trees are felled.

At a recent council meeting, Cllr Rone-Clarke asked how many trees the council had cut down in the last five years – to which the administration could give no reply.

Labour Group leader Cllr Thompson: “It’s difficult to imagine how, as a council that claims to be committed to playing our part in greener issues, that we are not doing this already.

"Cllr Rone-Clarke and I were shocked when we suspected that the council were not logging the number of trees they were cutting down.

"However, what is done is done and, here, we are offering a feasible solution to compensate for it.”

Cllr Thompson plans to move a motion at July's full council meeting that the council notes the importance of logging trees felled and introduces plans to replace each one cut down with two new ones.

Cllr Rone-Clarke added: “I am appalled that we do not even keep a record of how many trees we have cut down.

"I am hopeful, however, that with this motion we can work with officers, not only to keep a log of what we do but act responsibly to replace them.”

However, a council spokesperson replied: “We don’t have a great volume of tree stock so we don’t record the number of trees we remove as we only ever take this action if they are dead, diseased or endangering the immediate vicinity.”

The two Labour councillors are also calling for an extraordinary council meeting on climate change after their motion to extend the most recent meeting to discuss the matter was denied.

Cllr Thompson added: "This meeting is absolutely necessary and I, like many people, believed this motion should have been discussed.

"The Labour Group were particularly keen to set specific targets for the council to meet in 2020.”

Council leader Karen May responded: “Following discussions with the Labour Party, the Conservative Party has proposed bring the meeting scheduled for July 31 forward to July 24 during which this motion will be debated.

“We are currently waiting for confirmation from the Labour Party that they are happy for this action to be taken.”