I LIVE on Collin Road, Kendal, where the cherry trees have been threatened because of the way they affect the pavements.

They are beautiful in the spring, so lovely that a friend of mine was taken by her mum when she was a little girl to see the street festooned in pink blossoms every April. Better than Blackpool illuminations! Such beauty is very important these days when many of us struggle with anxiety and depression.

But there is a bigger issue to address here than even beauty. We need to preserve and protect all the mature trees we have.

At a time when we are supposed to be planting more trees, it is utter madness to think of chopping any down, especially given that mature trees support biodiversity. The one outside our house is alive with hundreds of small bees right now, loving the ivy that grows around it. Two wood pigeons nested in it last spring. And our lovely starlings that raise two broods of babies in our eaves every year teach their fledglings to fly from its branches. This will all be lost if it is replaced by a sapling.

The biggest threat to people on this planet right now is climate change. Our need for clean air, biodiversity and water surely trumps every other consideration. Carbon and pollution are two of the biggest health and safety risks we are facing. Our trees help to give us clean air and support biodiversity, which is much more important than being able to walk over smooth pavements. (And given that where trees have already been removed we still have lumpy pavements, I wonder how big an issues this actually is?)

I’m proud to live in an area where the council has declared a climate emergency. But this can’t just be about a clever little slogan and positive public posturing - it absolutely HAS to mean something. Our normal priorities have to change. And not next year. Now.

The council needs to lead the way in making changes and helping to create a better future for the young people of Kendal. They have shown in increasing numbers how worried they are about the threat to their future. Cutting down trees is not going to earn the trust of our children. Instead, it says loudly and clearly that it’s all just words, the adults don’t care and they’re on their own.

We need to permanently fence off those sections of the pavement affected by the trees and make the street a '20 is Plenty' street to enable people to safely walk round the trees or cross the roads. We have managed so far and I’m sure we will continue to manage.

It comes down to what "climate emergency" means to the council. I know what it means to me and to many of the people in Kendal.

Fiona Atkinson

Kendal