...With Dudley Council!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I arrived at work this morning to discover all the trees around a car park that is being refurbished have been cut down. 2 mistle thrushes sat confused and probably also in despair with the human race. In these trees we have had redpolls, fieldfares and the mistle thrushes. I don't see why it was necessary to cut them down when it is only the tarmac that is being replaced ( it was bumpy & breaking up). This is for a new play barn that is being built for children with disabilities. Ladies in the offices at that end of the building have had their bird feeders taken down whilst the work goes on. The large metal sheds have been dismantled to discover their was a fox den underneath it. (Just in time for breeding season!)
I have worked my guts out making that site environmentally friendly & a Breathing Places School. I organised the £8,000 quad pond & garden to be designed / landscaped and supported my students to apply for the funding (from Dudley Council ha ha ha what a joke) which was hard work. Blackbirds nested in this garden last year.
Ironically they are going to 're-design' our lovely playground with trees, hedges & lots of birds (mainly goldfinches & chaffinches) and make it a 'suitable wildlife/ sensory garden' for children with disabilities. They will probably cut down all of the trees (beech, sycamore & silver birch) and hedges. They will probably replace these with inappropriate saplings. They will probably dig up my free tree sapling that I organised & planted for years to come (Breathing Places task).
The council are so inconsiderate in the name of political correctness they contradict themselves. We were awarded £8,000 to improve the leisure facilities on site 2 years ago & then they go and destroy other areas of the site.
I really wonder why I bother, the kids & birds appreciate it I'm sure, but I am fighting a losing battle against the council who just do whatever they want to look good.
I really think there should be laws about cutting trees down to develop an area, but this is probably managed by the council. They should have to request permission from another agency before anything is done.
Not much I can say except you have my sympathy and the world needs your type more than the councils who seem as if they answer to no one.Do hope you carry on the marvellous work even though at this moment you feel battered.Important next generation gets interested in wildlife.
Bet the report says that lumps and bumps were caused by the roots from the now removed trees. Cannae have that in a playground. A child may fall and skin their knee and the parents may sue. Its an accident waiting to happen etc etc. Nonsense. Its an easy excuse to enable them to do whatever they like. Appauling what they can get away with.
I feel your pain.
On Saturday I went for a walk at Attenborough Nature Reserve - I used to live nearby and used to walk or cycle there most nights - and was horrified to find a bulldozer had been used to rip a huge swathe of trees and undergrowth away leaving an ugly scar. No doubt it's for improvements.
That is just terrible! How can they justify chopping down trees to re-tarmac a car park! Honestly, local councils just don't care about what they destroy in the name of "progress".
Millie & Fly the Border Collies
The problem is Susan our 'children' are 11-14 & most are bigger than me approx. 5' 10. We are the predominant users of the site. They blatantly chuck themselves around all day so a few bumps on the playground won't hurt them.
This car park will be rarely used by disabled children as the play barn will only be open on a few evenings per week. and summer play schemes.
I am shocked to hear that a Nature reserve had the trees bulldozered Diogenes
Is there an agency that could help fight the council over this issue?
I am so sorry. As Susan says, the first thing that crossed my mind ,was that they would say, that the tree roots were the cause of the problem. I can fully undertand how you feel but there is nothing you can do now. The trees have gone. I am surprised though that you weren't forwarned that this was going to happen. If any of us need to remove a tree, we have to have permission and all that entails.
This totally and utterly sickens me. Let's be honest, these people are far more interested in not being sued than they are in the security and advancement of the natural world. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if people like them would treat some bird gauno on their car with a phone call rather than soap and water.I hope this doesn't seen too dramatic but perhaps the best thing would be to set up some sort of method e.g. a pubically accesable register of naming and shaming all the councils that carry out crimes against nature, and by association a large percentage of humans that love and respect nature. Appologies if something like this already exists but it's just how I feel.Paul.
Warning! This post contains atrocious spelling, and terrible grammar. Approach with extreme edginess.
The site is broken up into segments for different council departments. There isn't a set site manager so to speak. My manager had to go to a few meetings but wasn't informed that trees were going to be cut down. She would have questioned it, knowing all the work that has been done to develop the outdoor areas.
We had planned to sow wildflower seeds on the bank this spring. I doubt that will happen now.
That's a great idea Paul.
Go ahead everyone, name & shame your councils & we can send them to appropriate organisations.
My son also had a protest in his last school (primary) as to build a basketball court (that is rarely used) they cut down a tree. He complained to the head and said adults are hypocrites, one minute telling us to save the earth & the next destroying it. (Same council by the way - what a surprise).
He has a point - he was 10 at the time.