To have spent most of the day in tears over trees

@NoMoreTrees As I said, leylandii are considered a problem and worthless for wildlife. The development should have a better scheme for its landscape and it should support plenty of wildlife.

The RSPB has a list of recommended native trees for small to large gardens. I would pick from this list as they believe they support our wildlife best. Imported trees aren’t always the best. Berries and bark to support insects are good attributes for trees.

The planning drawing appears to show a thick wooded strip between the end of your garden and the gardens of the new houses. This is quite common for the creation of privacy. I would question what they have done and ask what they will be planting to replace the conifers.

Separately, you can buy quite large trees. Put one towards the back of your garden, but away from the boundary so it can form a good canopy without risk of being pruned by neighbours. This would give you complete control. Something deciduous like a maple or gleditsia would give you colour interest. I’d also plant some low maintenance shrubs like hydrangeas. Little songbirds love hiding in these. Lastly, some spring bulbs that pop up every year without any maintenance. You’d very quickly create a little haven that you love to be in.

@ChardonnaysBeastlyCat Well they have gone and she needs a planting plan for her garden. It’s long so she won’t see a huge amount - but she needs to look at the plans for environmental planting and landscaping. They should be available. Some housing has very big grass and marsh areas for water retention. The houses might not be adjacent to her garden at all.

If there is a choice to be made though.

OP is faced with a bare view and no screen from a potential building site.

In her case I'd rather have the existing leylandii.
When planting, then yes, a variety of native trees would be much better.

@ChardonnaysBeastlyCat No one ever has to make that choice though. Most people cannot control them and they throw huge shadows over gardens. This causes moss and often nothing grows under them either. There’s always wonderful trees anyone can plant for interest, shade and wildlife. I would also suggest not huge field trees either.

How are you getting on with planting saplings the end of your garden @NoMoreTrees ?

While I understand the dislike of leylandii, I think I'd rather have them than no trees at all.

What person with any knowledge of trees truly plants leylandii when broad leaf native trees are available? It’s madness. They actually should be banned and since when is planting nuisance trees kind to your neighbours? It’s totally selfish. It’s worse than cutting them down in the first place. Just because you can plant them, it doesn’t mean you should. She needs to understand the issues and plant alternative broad leaf trees and should never be encouraged to plant leylandii under any circumstances.

OP is really upset at the leylandii just behind her back fence being removed. She is perfectly entitled to replace it with one in her own garden if she really wants to.

Would I do it? No.

I (and many others) have given her advice about other options, particularly around native trees.

But the bottom line is that it is her garden and she should do whatever makes her happy, even if us randoms on the internet would go a different direction.

@ElizabethsTailor Did you see the picture of OP’s garden? There is NO WAY leylandii should be planted there! Her neighbours would be furious. Rightly so. Deciduous small garden trees would be better and leylandii thugs are not suitable at all.

REALLY sorry to hear this OP. That is so sad.

I’m sorry you are finding it so upsetting. The good news is that they are Leyland Cyprus (leylandii) cheep and incredibly fast growing, which is why they are used for this kind of windbreak/temporary screening. So if you really do like them you could plant one or more in your own garden and they will shoot up in no time.

Be careful if you do plant them though because they tend to out-compete other planting.

Gorgeous conifer? I’d be over the moon to see the back of that dreadful thing. What a delightful open aspect you now have. I could work wonders with a lovely open space like that. I’m already thinking about all the vegetables and beautiful flowering trees and shrubs that would love your garden now it’s so open and sunny. That would be a wildlife paradise in no time. You see? It’s all about perspective.

I’d be absolutely devestated. Sorry OP. I do hope you can move if that’s what you would really like to do.

That’s so sad to see 😭 cutting down all those lovely trees 🌲

Vast majority of people do not pay any stamp duty and if they do, its relatively low.
On an averaged priced house, its £4k & surely, if Stamp duty removed, all that would happen is sellers would increase prices?

Rail fares have been frozen, first time ever i think but need to far lower BUT we don't want tax rises.....

Yes building regs are shite and not enforced, cuts have meant that inspectors are small in number and photos will be good enough, with random visits.

Another thing is to get rid of stamp duty so people don’t find it ridiculous to move when they don’t need a family house anymo; or want to move to another area where there is more housing or a job they want.

Also make rail fares lower so people can live in cheaper areas of without effectively being in a different country.

As someone said too, there can be too many houses built that people cannot afford the mortgages for.

All houses should be sustainable if they are going to wreck the countryside for them,
but many are junk.

Where I live some of the most egregious destructions of woodland and beautiful areas have been for millionaire houses.

Houses have been bought up, gutted and wrecked but made into luxury flats for rent, or for sale for millions to buy, by foreign owned companies.

Hi Op, I'd be very upset too, however as people have said it's an opportunity to plant some trees in your garden and see them grow and flourish.
The really good news is it's bare root season right now so you'll be able to pick up some whips ( very young trees) for an excellent price and easily plant them now which is the perfect time.
Do some research and get some wildlife friendly, native, garden suitable trees.
You'll be amazed at how quickly they grow.

@ScrollingLeaves I think Labour are looking at relaxing the scope of employment zones. John Lewis wanted to convert old stores to housing and in many areas there is too much retail space. It certainly needs looking at but many SE towns still have quite bouyant high streets.

Some cities are full of empty shops and other buildings that could be converted.

@KeepPumping What empty new builds? In the SE??? None I know of.

Houses are needed where people want to live and work. Just buying a few homes up doesn’t get over land shortages in the SE and it’s that which is causing a lack of houses. No doubt if people wanted cheap housing and could maintain a good job in an area where houses are cheap, they would go there. Most people don’t want to though.

People have wanted to buy homes for decades! It was seen as something aspirational. It was seen as a good thing as you didn’t pay rent for life and acquired an asset. The mistake was selling off council houses and Labour should have stopped that in 1997.

The government could buy up all the empty new-builds to cope with the "demand" ? China has empty tower blocks all over don"t they, that is why they are in the grip of a massive property crash. The "not enough houses" meme was always only about getting people into mortgage debt.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/new-build-sales-fall-62-as-mortgage-market-changes-improve-access-for-buyers.html

Well, there are millions of empty properties that could be repurposed if we had more control over property developers so they didn't just bulldoze prime land because it's easier for them.

Also we could get our own people working, especially almost a million NEETS instead of bringing loads of people from abroad all of whom need housing.

We must try to preserve as much green space as possible, especially in and around towns and cities, for the sake of our DCs.

@5MinuteArgument So where do you expect your dc or others to live then? In high rise blocks like China?