Franschhoek residents reacted with horror when they saw that three magnificent wild fig trees at the Place Vendôme Lifestyle Centre in Main Rd had been cut down at the end of January.
Nico Vorster and Kelly Pilkington – who own Good Food & Co in the centre – have, wrongly, been on the receiving end of locals’ ire. Here’s what they had to say: “We have received a number of questions from our guests regarding the removal of the trees that filled the courtyard behind us. We would like to assure everyone that it was not our choice to have them removed. Not only were they visually beautiful and provided a lovely green backdrop to GFC, their removal is also environmentally a loss. Unfortunately the centre management had to take them out as their root system had, over the many years they’ve been there, become invasive and were affecting the foundations of the surrounding buildings. We are sad to have lost our “friends” who formed such a part of the centre and would like to assure residents that we are in discussion with the management to re-green the area and make it visually more appealing.”
The March issue of the Tatler will carry a full report on the trees.
