Total posts 10
Total comments 12
// March 10th, 2008
- 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
- Wandsworth Council managed to chop a number of trees on Magdalen road after complaints from the adjacent (private) tennis court. The residents of the road were up in arms but there’s noone quicker than a council worker with a chain saw. Now there’s a bleak gap in a once leafy stretch of road and the tennis courts look like an exercise area for the nearby Wandsworth prison. It seems that once the trees are gone, they’re gone… Elizabeth, London
- Hear, Hear! Too many trees are ruthlessly removed, or brutally pruned to resemble telegraph poles. Nothing can beat trees for civilising a city, and in my opinion they should have automatic protection (that is, they should only be removed if there is a really good reason for it). Peter Humphreys, Swindon, UK
- I totally agree. We need as many trees as possible. Not only in the streets but parks and any suitable area. Not only good for wildlife but also the street scape. Always pester the local authority about the Governments ‘Pound for Pound’ tree planting scheme. Very useful. Can also try the Government’s Specimen Tree planting scheme which is also worthwhile. Always harangue any official not doing the right thing. richard - East London, london
- Been to Stratford on Avon recently ? The beautiful Bancroft gardens alongside the River Avon are being brought up to ‘World Class’ standard so for the past few weekends distraught residents and visitors could watch gorgeous cherry and willow trees being cut down to make way for designer trees in sterile landscaped areas. The trees had significant value to our town in terms of visual beauty and giving shade in the summer months but it wasn’t enough to save them from ‘progress’. Suggest you stay away from Stratford until the ‘improvements’ are finished - and don’t expect to see any mature trees. Tim Baker, Stratford on Avon, UK
- The author is most definately correct in asserting the problem is in protecting publicly owned trees. I imagine its not the risk of killing someone that is an issue, but of being sued. Council owns tree, house subsides, house owner claims insurance, insurance sues council for not removing tree is the concern I imagine. I also imagine the cost of moving the bench and replacing a whole tarmaced footpath is also far more than removing a tree, to utilise the example given. There has to be more comittment to protecting trees, both politically and financially, and especially a procedure put in place for consulting local residents when works to street trees are proposed. Jon, Bristol
- I absolutely agree with Vassilli, we all need to do more to protect our urban trees, too many tree lined avenues have been lost over the years, leaving a barren landscape. I have one happy story though, one household in my sisters street paid someone to ring bind a tree outside their house wishing to kill the tree and make way for a dropped curb. Lots of local residents spotted this skulduggery and alerted the local council and the police. The tree still stands tall and beautiful because of people power! Col Linehan, Bristol, England
- Hear Hear, the council in cardiff central seem determined to lop off the top of every large tree they can get their hands on it’s a disgrace. That and the trees they are replacing them with - ornamental cherry - are all diseased and are not able to survive the changing climate conditions, shame on them! Alex, Cardiff
- Here is a diary of a central Bristol Lime tree planted close to where I work: Planted 2004 - hot summer, no aftercare and almost died so I watered it every few days throughout dry periods that year and the next. Next year - Stem severely damaged by council strimmer, put plastic tree guard around base & two months later this was actually strimmed off. I Replaced this with sturdy metal mesh. Next year tree snapped in half by vandal, - I cut off and removed the top half and attemped to make a clean cut. Following year tree recovered and grew strongly. Last week vandal pulled tree right over breaking most of the roots - purchased two ties and strapped tree up to existing post & cross fingers……… Great article Vassili - its a long hard struggle trying to stop the removal of perfectly healthy mature trees in Bristol, and an equally difficult one trying to keep newly planted ones alive. If more people took reponsibilty for trees in their neighbourhood perhaps we can turn the tide. The next time we have a drought, look on your own doorstep & get out the watering can!! SJ, Bristol
- Trees are not alone, hedges in this rural area of Somerset are disappearing on a daily basis.Where new housing is planned on what is currently green field sites, the hedges including trees are being ripped out of the ground,this well in advance of the commencement of building work.It would appear that thought may be given to the preservation of mature trees,providing that they meet a pre determined set of criteria for survival, but mile after mile of hedgerow is disappearing. Les Miles, Yeovil Somerset
- We have just had 5 healthy trees chopped down in a few hundred yards in the cause of a road widening scheme which will provide a bus lane, which our local County Council assures us will save 4 minutes on a 9 mile bus journey. Total local opposition to the scheme and the fact that the buses lose far more time than 4 minutes before reaching the start of the relatively short bus lane-about a mile at the most-was, of course, totally ignored. DG, Cheltenham
- in hounslow where i live i have noticed more and more lovely mature trees being cut down and when i phone my local council office to find out why this is happening i get told things like this tree is dangerous thats if you can actually get though to the right department. when there are new trees planted they seem to be small and never seem to grow,it as if they are stunted and will never replace the lovely mature so called dangerous trees cut down in the first place,im am totally discusted with this urban de-forestation and will oppose it wherever i can.
- paul taylor, hounslow middlesex
- After asking if we agree with this article the writer highlights the scale of problem trees face. Surely it is the houses and traffic that are the hazard to the trees that do so much for us. Felling city trees should be resorted to only after every alternative option has been seen to fail. There are plenty of skilled tree surgeons who can remove deadwood, trim back canopies and manage risk far more cheaply than the cost of removing a large tree once felled.
- Jonathan, Slough, UK
- I applaud Vassili in his actions. I’ve long believed that many of the problems we are facing, both locally and nationally, are as a result of fewer trees. More trees can help reduce flooding, they contribute to a reduction in global warming. Personally I favour new legislation that any tree removed for whatever reason has to be replaced immediately, nearby, with 3 native trees of a similar size and stature. This goes for builders, domestic properties, public parks etc. etc. Jon, Cumbria
- Our local council in collaboration with a group of shop keepers have passed plans to fell the only 2 decent trees in our town, the reasons have been proved to be nonsense or at least easily fixed. The tree officer for the council has recommended a Tree Preservation Order as there is nothing wrong with them and should be preserved. The council went against his and other officers advice and for their own unfathomable reasons voted to fell them. About 1500 people immediately signed a petition to save the trees and a protest group has been put together. The only people who want the trees gone are the council and some shop keepers. No sensible reason has been given. A report was commissioned by the protest, it found the trees in good order and non problematic to the local environment and in fact beneficial. The protesters are now looking at a maladministration investigation at the way the council has acted. To add some confusion it has been discovered that one tree is in-fact a Falklands Conflict Memorial… Steve Price, Malvern, UK
- It amused me when I first started working in the Netherlands, when I read in the Dutch paper an article about Coronation Street. They described it as a soap opera based in a typical English city, with terraced houses and no trees. It’s something that outsiders find most strange, and having lived over here for 9 years, I now feel the same. Jim Cornish, Gent Belgium
- In the area that I walk my dogs each day I can count at least 100 trees that have been removed or replaced with smaller varieties. Roads that are called Avenues have been stripped of all large trees and the grass verges are now used as parking spots. Even the back gardens of nearby houses have had mature trees ripped out due to scare mongering by so called Tree Surgeons. I have tried to conteract this by planting some larger trees in our back garden. Royalsabre, Gravesend, Kent
- Nice to hear a lone voice speaking up for the trees. London is one of the loveliest major cities on the world with Trees everywhere. Lets keep it that way. If people do not like the trees they should remember what came first. Andy, London
- This very scenario is taking place in Milton Keynes. We have wide boulevards lined with semi-mature plane trees of some 50 - 60 years of age which are being removed by MK Council and English Partnerships to make way for development or to change the street-scape by building up to the boulevard. English Partnerships have commissioned a landscape report which recommends replacing some of the plane trees with vertical species of Hornbeam and other more ornamental, smaller habitat trees such as flowering cherries. We urgently need to protect our trees and maintain the beauty of boulevards lined with plane trees which are just starting to gain a majestic feel. We also suffered the removal of beautiful specimen arboretum grown trees from a roundabout close to M1 Junction 14 so that the road could be slightly widened. If a little care had been taken not all the trees had to be removed. These were particularly fine species. Apparently English Partnerships are now suggesting replacing them with plane trees that have been removed from elsewhere in Milton Keynes. What nonsense is this!! Mature trees cannot be successfully replanted unless they have been container grown and prepared for removal - the plane trees will die. We need action and help before any more are destroyed. Trees take a very long time to mature - a chainsaw can devastate the streetscape in a matter of minutes - and has already done so in Milton Keynes. This does need urgent intervention - there are other ways of achieving the development that English Partnership wants to achieve - the trees must be saved - they are more important than the buildings. julie barrie, Milton keynes
- Have a look at Milton Keynes!! Urban Eden, a group fighting for the preservation of those elements (such as our boulevard trees), have been saying these things for years and fighting the engineer and council endlessly! It’s a national issue…and it needs more media cover…England would be all tar and paving in a few years….! Trees provide structure which survives much longer than any other element within the built environment!! Liezel Kruger, Milton Keynes
- Coming from Sheffield Europe greenest city, I fully appriciate trees and the benefits they do clearly have in urban areas. Trees should be planted in every city in as many places as possible! Adz, Sheffield
- I wholly agree. What we need is an ‘Urban Woodland Trust’ to protect existing trees and promote the planting of trees and mini-woods in urban locations. David Norris, Wadhurst
- I totally agree with Vassili. Trees, hedges and open spaces too are vitally important to our general wellbeing. Too often these are sidelined by councils who are too eagre to take the easy way out or to pander to the Health & Safety jobsworths. Keep our trees. Look after them and respect them and we will all reap the benefits. Graham Gilbert, Totnes
- I wholeheartedly agree with Vassili. The problem is not only the felling and the failure to replant properly - but also the widespread vandalism in the form of the lopping and height reductions that are inflicted on so many trees. As a former tree surgeon I know that most of this practice is totally unnecessary. Can you put me in touch with Vassili? John Parham, Bristol UK
“Other messages of general support with Vassili’s original article. Are there any points raised you disagree with?” has 3 Responses
On March 13th, 2008 Daisy Tree said:
The over reaction to health and safety, like the Birmingham ash?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2129673.stm
Or any one of these?
Occupiers Liability Act 1957 & 1984, Highways Act 1980, Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Chapman v Barking & Dagenham London Borough Council. Queens Bench Divisional Court. 1997, Poll v Bartholomew (Viscount of Asquith & Morley) May 2006 High Court.
On November 16th, 2008 Patrick enehan said:
Unless Homo sapiens learns to curb his/her overweaning ego and try and learn that he/she is just one of the many species occuypying this tiny planet and has no predominant right to wreak havoc and desruction all round, then I believe Nature will teach him/her a salutary
lesson but of course, when that happens it will be too late and there will be much weeping and gnashing of teeth. Remember Pompeii.
On May 11th, 2010 mbt shoes said:
A good article Thank you!