Three local government experts will conduct an independent learning review into the Plymouth City Council decision that led to the felling of 129 trees on Armada Way in March 2023.
Following the scrapping of the original decision to redevelop Armada Way, announcing an independent learning review was one of the first decisions that Council Leader, Tudor Evans, made when he first took office in May 2023.
Now that all the legal action has concluded, the work can move forward and is expected to conclude within three months.
Working with SOLACE, a network for public sector and local government professionals, three independent experts have been commissioned to lead the review. Each has vast expertise in local government, environmental projects and governance/decision making.
They also have extensive experience of carrying out independent reviews for councils across the country:
David Williams – former chief executive of Portsmouth City Council with experience in leading major regeneration projects.
Sue Foster – former strategic director who has worked in a number of local authorities leading on areas such as planning, place, regeneration and Neighbourhoods.
Jeanette McGarry – monitoring officer at the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames with extensive experience in reviews specifically looking at governance, legal services and decision making.
Over the next three months, the independent learning review panel will examine what happened in the lead up to the felling of the trees, and why it happened. They will consider the facts relating to the development and approval of the original scheme (that was subsequently scrapped). Specifically, the review will:
• Provide an opportunity to receive feedback from interested stakeholders and objectively analyse areas of good practice and areas of improvement
• Obtain an independent, fair and objective appraisal of all relevant facts and factors pertaining to the original decision and the implementation of the original scheme; and
• Provide learning outcomes from which improvements to procedures and processes can be identified, particularly in relation to governance, decision making and the management of the original scheme as a major project.
It will be possible for members of the public and other stakeholders to provide representations to the review panel and further information on the detail of how to do this will be published in the near future.
David Williams, chair of the Review Panel, said:
“We are aware of the sensitivities around the felling of the trees on Armada Way and over the next three months will be looking at a raft of information.
“The purpose of the learning review is not to allocate blame or culpability. But more to understand what happened and why, so we can make sure that any improvements can be made in the future.
“We know that there will be groups and individuals that would like to give us their views as part of the learning review process and as soon as we have a process in place we will let people know. Our emphasis will be on learning for the future and that should be the focus of any representations.”
