Tree surgeons at work in Carlton Avenue East
Guest post by local resident L. Green
Last Monday a team of tree 'surgeons’ employed or commissioned by the Council came to Carlton Avenue East and began to demolish a beautiful and sturdy lime tree, one of the many that have lined both sides of this street for eighty odd years.
There was a small amount of fungus growing at the bottom; perhaps someone had complained, but the trunk was sound and the branches decked with as many leaves as all the neighbouring trees. A walk through most woodland will reveal similar fungus growing all over the place.
Early pictures of the street, from Brent Archives, show the newish houses with the recently planted trees in neat rows on both sides. The same view appears in the 1950's Terry Thomas film 'Too Many Crooks', shot in the area and screened at Preston Community Library in 2017.
When the Preston Park Estate was built in the 1920s and 1930s, tree lined avenues were clearly part of the overall vision for the development. Now in a period of great anxiety about climate change, we watch as trees are destroyed with few seeming to care.
When I moved to this area in the 1990s I used to delight in walking along neighbouring Longfield Avenue. It was lined with a row of glorious Maples, which turned bright red and gold each Autumn. There was also cherry tree with deep pink blossom each spring. Now the Maples and the cherry have all gone, and there are only two trees left in the street, which is greatly diminished as a result. In adjoining Glendale Gardens most of the trees have gone, at least two have gone from Grasmere and in the last fortnight a tree has suddenly disappeared from the roundabout where Windermere Avenue joins Grasmere. All this devastation in just four streets - Is this typical of the whole of Brent, just how many trees have gone? Should we be mapping them?
In 2019 the Greater London Authority provided thousands of trees for Londoners to plant in their communities, and SKPPRA, the local residents' association duly organised a planting in Preston Park. However it seems likely that in this area at least, for every tree planted more than one has gone. The R number for trees is over 1!
Clearly there will be some occasions when a tree genuinely has to go. In Montpelier Rise there is a leafless tree that is as ex as the proverbial dead parrot, though unusually there is no demolition notice posted on its trunk. However, there should be a proper programme of replacement for all trees cut down, and a decent notice period when any tree is endangered, so that local people can respond when the destruction is unjustified.
Trees contribute so much to our environment - not just to the attractiveness of the street scene and as homes for birds and other wildlife, but to our safety. A neighbour had a large weeping willow in her garden which recently died. Now her garden floods more in storms, because the willow was drinking up water from the saturated ground.
We need a programme of tree planting in our streets and parks, to both replace what has already been lost and to increase the overall number. There are plenty of local sites where trees could be planted. In Carlton Avenue East the rhythm of the planting will be spoilt by the absence of the cut down tree, and a similar tree needs to be installed as a replacement. The Borough needs to increase the number of trees, to play it's part in improving our environment and fighting climate change.
Madness, utter madness. Thank you for drawing attention to the lip service being paid by the Council to carbon reduction.
ReplyDeleteHear, hear - an excellent and timely article. Glendale Gardens had a beautiful collection of trees 30 years ago. A lovely flowering cherry outside my own house - now just broken paving where the hole was not filled properly. Save our trees! .. and where they have to go for safety reasons, please replace them.
ReplyDeleteMary Cunliffe left this comment via the copy of the article posted on Next Door:
ReplyDeleteThanks for such a brilliant article. It makes me weep to see good trees being taken like this. The lovely old photo in the article demonstrated at least 3 good things: 1. Nature was intended to be incorporated into urban planning with a reasonable number on trees on new developments. 2. The size of the houses reflected planning principles of the day when a minimum square footage was allowed for families to have space to live relax and study (hence the separate sitting room and dining room where children could do homework) 3. The general well being of residents that not only had space inside the house - they could also walk around with good space allowed with a green tree lined pavement plus space for the car.
I read somewhere that there was a plan called the Parker Plan which set out minimum requirements for new builds in the 1950s. Every decade since then the general size of council houses and /or the square footage allowed for housing has been reduced over time.
Removing trees like this coupled with the small spaces allowed for families in new high rise is not the way forward. If you decide to start mapping trees - I can fill you in with what has happened in my neighbourhood. Some neighbours winge about trees where I live and don’t see the benefits and then wonder why a tree lined neighbourhood elsewhere is so nice to visit !
Brent council is serving short term goals - in ten years time much of what is being built now will take on the feeling of modern slums - especially if there is no maintenance plan put in place to fix problems. We have already seen what has happened with the cladding crisis and Grenfell Tower.
The families that moved into the lovely suburbs of the 1920s and 1930s appreciated the good life that was possible with space for their children to live and breathe. Trees are beautiful and in these days of climate crisis are essential - they should be included in new development and for every one chopped down - a replacement sorted out.(edited)
Thank you Mary Cunliffe for your excellent comments. I used to work in housing, and council homes built to Parker Morris standards were very popular with tenants. The standards were abolished I think in the 1980s so that homes could be built for less money.
ReplyDeleteIf every cut down tree had to be replaced the cost would concentrate the minds as to whether destruction was really necessary. We need more trees don't we, not less.
There does seem to have been a sudden rash of tree removals recently. Where a tree is scheduled for removal it's definitely worth asking Brent for the reason; unfortunately if they cite disease, then they're unlikely to change their minds. I believe the Barn Hill Residents' Association used a Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy grant to plant a couple of hundred trees a year or two ago, and most of them are now doing pretty well. Perhaps SKPPRA could consider something similar.
ReplyDeleteLocal resident L Green points out Brent Council’s vandalism and disregard for climate change but appears to have forgotten the four trees (one on Carlton Avenue East) to be cut down and destroyed by Brent Council for the Preston Library site redevelopment.
ReplyDeleteIs this site on a different planet to the rest of Carlton Avenue East?
As the bard might have said had he read this article in the library (prior to demolition) – ‘God gave you one face and you make yourself another.’
Dear Tree Hugger,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I would be very upset if the tree next to the library were to be cut down. Fortunately that is not in the plans, which show it as being left in place.
With regard to other trees to be cut down for the development, there are three birches behind the building, which have been slowly dying and shedding branches for the last five years or so. At least two of them are definitely dead, and the other one looks ill. This may be due to lack of water, as the area around them is tarmacked. I do agree though, that there should be replacements planted in the area.
Dear L Green.
ReplyDeleteYou should be upset. The approved plan shows the tree next to the library T5 cut down. The one you refer to is T4. You seem to look but be unable to see?
You confirm that the three other trees are also to be cut down so when is your blog coming on them?
If they are dying as you say because of the tarmac on the site - then you will be busy with blogs in the future as the approved plan shows the present green areas of the site tarmaced over for a car park. The replacements and T4 have little chance of survival if you are right.