Introduction

Following the recent news item on the BBC website about the death of the urban tree, the response was so overwhelming the BBC moderator had to suspend the blog after just 24 hours so many people didn’t have a chance to have their say. We have extracted many of the comments about street trees and put them in different themes. This will enable you to comment on a comment rather than the original article.

The themes in order are:

• the benefits of urban trees
• the health and safety / legal issues
• is it down to cost ?
• agreement with the article from around the UK (and wider)
• getting the right species
• the case in defence of the council arboriculturists
• international experience

See individual categories below for the comments:

1 Comment »

• Here in Malaysia where we have many beautiful trees, our local council Petaling Jaya (KL) is going to destroy the several hundred year old Sungai Boleh forest reserve. One of the few remaining urban forest reserve in an already over developed areas and replace with high density housing. I grew up in London with such greenery and had hoped to continue see such beauty here, but we are destroying our green heritage. Rob Hempel, Kuala Lumpur Read the rest of this entry »

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• Well done Vassili; but Bristol Council supports the Forest of Avon, which has planted thousands of trees in the past twenty years, and has just voted an extra £50k for new planting this year, so they are not all bad. Bristol’s street and park trees represent a vast arboretum of some 300 species, and include at least 200 veterans; this is a priceless resource for the city, which should be far more valued by every citizen that it is. And the money nationally for parks maintenance has halved over the past twenty years as a result of the continuous pressure for efficiency or productivity savings; as a result the quality of our parks, and hence our lives, has fallen steadily. Richard Bland, Bristol UK Read the rest of this entry »

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• Planting any tree is good, provided it is not ailanthus altissima (Tree of Heaven)or another invasive species, but weedy ornamental trees are not very attractive & useful to wildlife. In Islington the council have planted a lot of these such trees lately eg Gingko. Vandals & drunks have destroyed many of these before they have become established. last year the council replanted one spot in York Way (near King’s Cross) three times after the trees were broken. People are pathetic. Dominic Stiles, London
• I totally agree, it angers me that in my road there is not one tree, and when councils do plant them it is the same limited choice of Flowering Cherry, Alder or Mountain Ash. What has happened to mighty Oaks, and soaring Poplars. Trees are not the problem it’s those who smash the pavements parking on them, and concrete over their gardens. We need more greenery in our towns. John Nelhams, London,UK Read the rest of this entry »

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• I entirely support the comments made in the article, and I entirely agree that no town trees should be cut without full consultation with and agreement of people who “live” with the tree. These people should be able to decide that a tree may stay or go and any proposal to cut the tree should include an environmental impact statement (to be made by an independent scientist, who must contact all nearby people as well as the local authority(ies) involved). This assessment must cover what action will be taken to plant a new tree instead of the old one. Only subsidence of a house, identified at a public hearing by informed experts, or of clear danger from death of the tree and the proven threat of falling limbs, should be regarded as proof of the need to cut; and only when all other possiblities have been exhausted. The tree’s right to live should be recognised and it should be allowed to live until it is proved it cannot do so without a clear and demonstrable, quantifiable, danger. Christopher Mathews Dr C P Mathews, Cheselbourne, Dorset Read the rest of this entry »

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• Councils are doing this to save money on street sweepers. Bob, Wycombe
• Damn right! It’s bl**dy ridiculous that council idiots are felling old trees just so they can make cost savings on street repairs. I think the costs would be more than compensated for if we all lived in streets with more trees, given the benefits of shading, wildlife attraction, cleaner air … and just that feeling of being closer to nature. Councils… LEAVE THE TREES ALONE! Ross Marnie, Glasgow, Scotland Read the rest of this entry »

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• An office that I worked for had a Car Park that was lined with lovely mature trees until recently. I asked one of the staff that I am still in contact with as to what happened to them. The response? A female employee who is well known for teetering around on six inch stilettos no matter the weather fell and hurt her arm while walking on the pavement underneath the trees. The result? No more trees, just a line of stumps where they used to be. Mick C, Leeds Read the rest of this entry »

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• I was told that in Singapore, the government decided to keep trees in urban areas because they calculated that one tree is worth two air-conditioners in terms of keeping people comfortable (not sure how they compared indoors vs out…). Cooling may not be a year-round issue for you in the UK, but I’m sure it makes a difference in the summer. Shi-Hsia Hwa, Penang, Malaysia
• I am also a tree lover, I feel they really add value to a street and/or house. Not only do they provide environmental benefits but they look good too. I have heard that our brain or senses development is affected by our environment and would not be surprised if looking at trees made us happier or even more intelligent (houses are easy for our brains to decypher the image, but trees much more random). Many people now seem to be obsessed with predictable lines, clean looks and pure finishes (houses, cars etc), but this is the opposite to nature and I’m sure cannot be good for our minds. I know what I prefer to look at. My flat overlooks an area of high priced houses with many trees around them, with a view over the top of the Belfast lough, I enjoyed it on daily basis. Unfortunately our nearest neighbours decided to remove 2 of the biggest oldest trees in the area, and now I am left staring at another neighbours house (around 30% of my view). Tony, Holywood, N. Ireland  Read the rest of this entry »

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Finally Bristol Street Trees has an interactive blog. Here, you can comment on our website and and lets us know what you think about our news items.

3 Comments »