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Apple Tree To Be Planted In Liverpool In Protest At Proposed Heathrow Runway

Liverpool is to be "twinned" with Sipson, the village threatened with demolition if the proposed third runway at Heathrow airport goes ahead.

Members of Greenpeace in Liverpool will join Cllr Berni Turner, executive member with responsibility for the environment, local ward Cllr Jan Clein and Margi Clarke, actor, presenter and Greenpeace supporter, in a show of solidarity with the village.

Sipson will be twinned with the city during a ceremony at the Unitarian Church, Ullet Road, Aigburth, Liverpool on 21 November at 2.00pm when an apple tree will be planted.

The ceremony follows a similar event earlier this month when celebrities and politicians planted an apple orchard on the runway site as a symbol of opposition to the development.

Actors Alison Steadman and Richard Briers, politicians including Nick Clegg, local residents and poet laureate Carol-Ann Duffy planted the orchard in Sipson, while Alain De Botton – who was famously recruited by BAA to spend a week at Heathrow and write about his experiences – has adopted a Cox apple tree in the orchard. They were joined by the Woodland Trust, RSPB, WWF, the World Development Movement and other groups representing a total of three million members.

The Cox apple was first bred near Sipson in the 1850s by Richard Cox, who is buried on the site earmarked for a new runway.

The apple tree in Liverpool will act as a beacon to show the residents of the threatened community that they have support across the country.

Linda Bacon of Greenpeace said: “We are very grateful to the Unitarian Church for allowing us to plant this tree on their land and for their support with this event. We hope that local residents and Greenpeace supporters from Merseyside will join us to witness the planting of the tree on Saturday at 2.00 pm”

Liz Gould of Greenpeace added: “The people in Sipson have fought a brave campaign to save their village from the bulldozers, and to save our environment from the climate-wrecking effects of a new runway at Heathrow.

“We hope their orchard will be bearing fruit in years to come, instead of being under tarmac, and as long as their orchard stands then we hope our tree in Liverpool will grow as well, and show that people here care about the environment.”