It's been revealed that 'upwards' of 140 trees will be removed to make way for a new hospital at Overdale.

The Our Hospital project team gave the figure at a St Helier Roads Committee this morning (20 October) where it was giving a presentation about the road layout to the £804 million facility.

Delivery partners for the project gave an overview of the transport modelling, road, and landscaping proposals ahead of an expected planning application being submitted next month.

Facing questions afterwards from Town Hall officials, they were asked how many trees will be removed.

They were told 40 will go on Westmount Road, and 'upward' of 100 at the main site at Overdale.

That was followed up with a comment to the Roads Committee that "a lot more trees will be planted than those lost".

Committee member John Baker asked how many replacement trees there would be, but no numerical figure was provided.

Members of the hospital project team told the media in May that while some trees will be lost, three times as many would be planted in their place.

Roads Committee Chair and St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft expressed his disappointment at proposed green spaces being removed and not replaced

Senator Lyndon Farnham, political lead for the Our Hospital project, had previously said that the intention was to not lose a single tree.

"The intention is not to disturb any trees and have minimum environmental impact.

In actual fact, I think we've got an opportunity to increase the recreational space to the other side of the road and actually grow the park."

Westmount Road will be widened to allow access to the new hospital at Overdale

The project team told today's Town Hall meeting that trees would need to be removed to make the necessary adjustments to the road, including the addition of cycle tracks.

It said a range of trees of different maturities would be used, including 'advanced nursery stock', and not what was described as 'sticks' or saplings.

It was revealed the issue of tree imports is being considered, because of limits on container sizes through the ports.

The St Helier Roads Committee has requested another presentation from the Our Hospital group in two weeks' time, saying it wants more clarity regarding traffic flow and the impact on the green spaces.