...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.
I'm so sorry Birdmum. You must be heartbroken. I wish there were something you could do.
Cheers, Linda.
See my photos on Flickr
Hi Birdmum, I'm am so sorry to hear what is going on - and totally appalled!
Although it does have a sense of deja vu; a few years ago Walsall and Wolverhampton council decided to cut the trees down on the walkway - apparently they were unsafe/ They left the laurel bushes to grow wild but took most of the trees down. Naturally this had an effect on the wildlife here and it went very quiet!
All I can suggest is although its too late for round the car park can you no petition or something for the playground to make sure they don't do the same there?
And then see how much of an input you all can get in this redesign. Surely they don't have a clue of the work you and everyone else has already put in and they will just destroy whatever is in place just for their work.
It just doesn't make any sense with what they've done, it really doesn't. I just don't understand why they've done what they have - especially when they were only doing the car park!
I worked in the Water Board for many years in Scotland.
The issues we had with the subject of Trees was paramont in our departments day to day working life
Once I remember we had a job to do in an area of Scotland. A major sewage pipes had burst. It meant that some major repair work has to be done near a river, and a large area of mature Broad Woodland.
The burst pipe had to be replaced. One tree had to be cut down because the roots have grown through the pipe and cause it to collapse
We contacted the people by letter who lived closeby. This was to state that work was going ahead with repair the pipe.
The same associated people wrote a letter to our department showing their concern... stating that the Trees where part of their heritage. They did not want to see any trees being removed is at all possible, and they would be upset about it.
I had to contact the Tree Preservation people and ask them about the Trees in the area. There was a bit of hoo haa about the Trees history etc... The trees where listed/protected species, and it was a difficult situation to be in
Anyway the Council turned up with Tree cutting equipment to cut the one Tree down, and they cut down the wrong Tree (Tree next to the one that had to be removed) and I was mortified how a mistake of that scale could be made.
Honestly, some people daaaah!!! - Council 0 out of 10 for that mistake.
Regards
Kathy and Dave
So sorry to hear that Birdmum! So frustrating as others have said before me to be told by the 'authorities' (councils, governments, etc...) to do our bit, which most of us try to, only to have these sorts of things happen... Our voice needs to be a little louder I think!
"All weeds are flowers, once you get to know them" (Eeyore)
My photos on Flickr
Gutted to hear that all your good work has been ruined. The only thing I can suggest is take the local council members to task in the run- up to the elections (will this council be subject to the localo elections this year?) Get the opinions of local councillors regarding conservation issues, then target them/ their party in the local media. Brave hearts, Birdmum, don't give up.
Thats what we will have to do in Scotland, I feel, where we have an administration that is hell- bent on building roads everywhere, erecting mega- pylons in peat bogs, and allowing American megalomaniacs to build golf courses on SSSIs.
The fight for what we believe in might be hard, but we owe it to ourselves to keep going.
I even love magpies
I agree Johnny.
Unknown said: ...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.
As a starting rule, it is important to note that all wild birds are "protected" under the terms and conditions of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 that (for England) is enforced by the government statutory body - Natural England (http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/).
This "protection" essentially makes it an offence to intentionally kill, injure or take any wild bird. It is an offence to intentionally injure or take any wild bird. It is an offence to intentionally take, damage or destroy the eggs, young or nest whilst the nest is being built or is in use. The act allows for fines up to £5,000 and/or 6 month prison sentence for every bird, egg or nest destroyed.
Coverage under the terms of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 affords legal protection to the bird, nest and eggs - not the habitat within which they reside for some stage of the year. If the site is ecologically significant, it will usually be afforded designations such as SPA (Specially Protected Area), SSSI (Special Site of Scientific Interest) or NNR (National Nature Reserve).
Through better understanding of the planning system sometimes certain works can be offset. Please do check out the Take Action for Wildlife pages on the main website. These are a series of downloadable documents that advise on objecting to development plans using media and politicians and assessing the value of a wildlife site.
Some hedgerows have to be maintained in perpetuity under the original Enclosures Act and are therefore protected by hedgerow regulation 1997. Each parish has an Enclosures Map, so to find out which hedgerows are protected by the Act, contact your parish council or public records office.
Trees can be protected by a Tree Preservation Order, which can be issued by the local authority with respect of a single tree or groups of trees of landscape or amenity value. Hope these pointers will be of interest!
Where is birdmum? She changed her name just after this posting and has been quiet since.
I totally agree, hearing this tale sickens me too.
We've become ridiculously PC and it's costing us our natural world here.
Unknown said:If any of us need to remove a tree, we have to have permission and all that entails.
I am also very saddened to read about this sorry tale. It seems like Councils can do what they like with trees on their property but when it's privately owned they make the owner jump through hoops to even chop off a dead branch.
It's another sad reflection on the fact that they can just take any action they choose and blow the consequences.
Best wishes Chris
Click Here to see my photos