Berardi said he had repeatedly been told the council, which he claimed has a “very embarrassing” target of planting 20 trees a year, did not have any money to do its own planting.
“This would seem the obvious solution. You have many other councils that are bending over backwards to support voluntary planting,” he said.
Runnymede Borough Council said it had a long track record of supporting community groups
However, it said the petition’s wording “effectively opened up” all areas of the borough to planting, which could pose “major headaches”, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The petition is due to be considered at a council meeting on 17 June.