Pruning of Trees on Barry Road

[rch]

For those who are interested, there will be a briefing on the Tree Management Strategy on Tues 25th Sept starting at 7pm at the Francis Peek Centre in Dulwich Park.

I'll be attending, so I'll try to summarise here afterwards.

[intexasatthe moment]

Is it a public meeting ,can anyone attend ?

[RaYMOND]

Hi there Robin ,

I think you need to have a word with Mr Cook about he's running his department ?

Raymond

[rch]

Raymond, is that you?! Give me a call sometime and let me know how you're doing!

In defence of Mr Cook, I think he was inserted into the middle of some pre-existing policies that are taking a while to re-arrange, which is why I plan to attend this meeting in an attempt to jolly things along.

Hi, intexas... I'm assuming it's a public meeting, but I'll double check just in case. But if you want to come along, just tell people you're with me and look for me as soon as they let you in!

[intexasatthe moment]

Thanks Robin .

[treehugger]

More beautiful trees in full leave having severe surgery this morning - it's sooooo horrible.

[Penguin68]

It is clear that at the moment we are being visited by a dreadful visual eyesore - these trees look as if they have been blasted by explosives, almost, BUT - such severe pruning will tend to reduce the root ball/ root extension - this will have a broadly beneficial impact in an crowded urban environment over time, with less root damage and water take-up.

Doesn't alter the fact that it would have been better to do it at a more appropriate time, and that it looks stark and dreadful.

The tree that was massacred at the corner of Dulwich Common and the Village has now come back, a diminished but still living tree, so there is hope for next year.

[intexasatthe moment]

I do wonder why the trees were pruned at this time - work started in August and ( fortunately as far as I'm concerned ) was delayed by nestgate.

What you say about reducing root damage and water take up makes sense ....but I wonder if these were in fact a problem that warranted such severe action.

And who and how these issuses were identified and asessed .

If it was deemed necessary to carry out these works in Barry Rd ( and many younger ,smaller trees have ,for the first time ,had the same treatment as the large ones that have been pollarded in the past ) then presumably the majority of trees ( roadside/near buildings ) in the borough will be treated the same way .

[Vilmos]

I live on Barry Road and it looks as though World War 111 has just passed through.

Couldn't they have been just a little bit less robust in their pruning? And what of the golden hue of the trees as we enter Autumn, that is gone and all we are left with is stark looking clumps of tree that will take forever to recover.

Does anybody know whether or not they will be back at the same time next year?

[Lowlander]

Have a look at the trees at the top of Lordship Lane, they were in the same state last year and have put out a significant bit of foliage.

[intexasatthe moment]

I have no doubt that the trees will sprout again .

But I object to the works being done at this time of year ,many were pollarded in August .

What is the point of a tree ,especially in an urban environment , is it to enhance the environment ?

Physically and visually ?

And aren't the leaves integral to that enhancement ?

Now we have no leaves ,just poles and sticks .

I guess the logical extension to this method of tree management will be to remove the trees and replace them with a few posters between March and July .

[uncleglen]

Trees fix CO2. They also provide shade during the day and prevent street lights from shining in your bedroom window at night. Also they remind us that there is green stuff outside of our concrete jungle and they provide perches and nesting for birds and a playground for squirrels and somewhere for your dog to pee. If everywhere was completely concreted over there would be more flooding.And they look good.

[civilservant]

Hear hear, ITATM and UncleGlen

[chichirara]

I wish the council would come and sweep up the remains of the pollarding and the leaves and rubbish, Used to have a three times a week sweeper, the lovely Pete now no one, as far as I can see

[intexasatthe moment]

Aaah now I see it ,it's all to ensure good TV reception .

"This problem exists with digital television too, but the interference by rain is far worse than it used to be with the old system. Even tall trees nearby with wet leafs rustling in the breeze can wipe out a digital picture."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2012/sep/30/weatherwatch-storms-digital-media-switchover

[Rolo Tomasi]

I like them.

[intexasatthe moment]

I can understand that Tomasi - they look quite architectural ,like weird sculptures .

Maybe in a different setting I would like the shapes ....though it would be a stretch .

My real preference would be for them to look like trees and to have kept their leaves for as long as possible .

[intexasatthe moment]

" by rch September 22, 08:31AM

For those who are interested, there will be a briefing on the Tree Management Strategy on Tues 25th Sept starting at 7pm at the Francis Peek Centre in Dulwich Park.

I'll be attending, so I'll try to summarise here afterwards.

--------------------

Cllr Robin Crookshank Hilton

Liberal Democrat Councillor for Village Ward "

Robin how did this meeting go ? Was any light shed on why the trees in Barry Rd were pollarded so early in the year ?

So many trees around the borough still retain their leaves ,looking beautiful with autumn colours .

The trees in Barry Rd could still be looking lovely but instead were given the chop in August while in full leaf .

And were you going to raise something about trees in the Nov DCC meeting ?

[thubay1]

More info:

http://ity.im/0sbFg

[intexasatthe moment]

thuby - the link doesn't seem to work .

Unless it's just me .

[rch]

Hi intexas, apologies for disappearing, workload has been insane so I have a lot to catch up on in here.

The meeting went well, but I'm also in touch with the Tree Dept on a regular basis and have made them aware of the strength of feeling about the Barry Road pollarding (they were even following this thread for a while).

My understanding is that the saga with Barry Road was basically caused by spreadsheet based maintenance schedules, but the new maintenance program allows for large avenue trees to be flagged to only be scheduled to be pollarded for after the leaves have fallen in the future (which will also ensure there are no active birds nests). There are quite a few streets that this would affect, but it's just a matter of adhering to a strategic management policy, in my opinion.

I do intend to include an item about Trees at the Dulwich Community Council, but the Tree Warden Program that we wanted to launch won't be ready until January now, so it's looking more like it will come to the January 30th DCC... plus the Nov 27th meeting is getting complicated, more on that on another thread.

Also, FYI, our tree maintenance contractors are going to change in December, so let's see how that affects the overall picture.

Will try to update more often in here.

[intexasatthe moment]

Thank you for responding Robin .

The second half of your sentence

"My understanding is that the saga with Barry Road was basically caused by spreadsheet based maintenance schedules, but the new maintenance program allows for large avenue trees to be flagged to only be scheduled to be pollarded for after the leaves have fallen in the future (which will also ensure there are no active birds nests). "

is great .

I'm not so sure about the first bit " caused by spreadsheet based maintenance schedules " ,the only sense I can make of it is that things were put on a spreadsheet and that meant that on paper/digitally it looked ok although back in the real world it didn't .

I don't know if it does translate into that .

If it does ,it's a bit sad .

Computer says no .

Apologies if I'm barking up the wrong tree .

( yes ,yes ,I realise that's a pun )

[rch]

Har, har, barking. I used deliberately obscure wording because this is only my understanding based on other experiences I've had, it's not an official explanation.

From what I understand, there are a series of new surveys being done of all the trees in the borough and I'm at least trying to ensure that the sensitive trees in the Dulwich area are specially noted so that nothing like this happens again.

Would you be interested in becoming a voluntary tree warden? The council is offering to train up residents to report back on the state of the trees in their area and do basic maintenance such as basal growth removal.

I was trained to do this a few years ago, it's really fun in a tree-geek sort-of way... or, conversely, I've invented a more freeform group to protect the trees in Dulwich called the Arboricultural Liberation Committee of Half of London (or ALCOHOL for short), would you like to join me?

[intexasatthe moment]

I'd be glad to help if I can - would need an idea of what's involved ,what commitment necessary before I signed up .

Let me know on here or by PM .

Maybe on here so that others might be tempted as well ?

[rch]

Probably the best thing to do is to wait until the proper Tree Warden program is launched in January. From experience with similar programs, you put in whatever time you want to, it's a bit like a "Friends" group... I asked a question about it in Council Assembly last time, the full reply should be in the minutes somewhere. But I'll definitely let you all know when we have the item at the DCC.