From pale.aquamarine at googlemail.com Fri Feb 11 14:33:18 2011 From: pale.aquamarine at googlemail.com (Lisa Buchholz) Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:33:18 +0000 Subject: [Announce] Public Consultation on Forest Ownership Message-ID: Hello - DEFRA is holding a public consultation on the future ownership and management of the public forest estate in England. You may have already commented on this issue via action/pressure groups, but this is the formal public consultation (closing on 21 April 2011) to which you may wish to respond. http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/forests/index.htm Thanks Lisa Buchholz SOS Committee -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chair at soscambridge.org.uk Tue Feb 22 12:04:03 2011 From: chair at soscambridge.org.uk (John Lawton) Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2011 12:04:03 +0000 Subject: [Announce] VERY URGENT - Please stand up for the Alexandra Gardens trees! Message-ID: <20110222124338.SSBL25656.aamtaout04-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@Onyx-PC.soscambridge.org.uk> Dear All, I am sorry to tell you that the three trees in Alexandra Gardens under dire threat of felling since late last year are not saved. A tremendous campaign run by local residents of the Alexandra Gardens Tree Group, and their very thorough investigation into the problems suffered by a property over the road from the park led to a detailed report which they supplied to the council. This report concluded that the trees are UNLIKELY to be the source of the problem with the house. Curiously an initial private council briefing report for councillors did not include the resident's report at all. The latest public consultation document now does, but again curiously omits the resident group's arboricultural consultant's report - perhaps because it found that the trees were not to blame, and contradicted their own consultant's report. The officers are sticking to their previous position and are recommending a huge 70% reduction in the tree canopies of these trees. The trees have already been reduced by 30% in the past. Behind this position it appears that the council is afraid that unless they go along with the wishes of the insurance companies involved, they may eventually have to fight them in court, so they are willing to sacrifice the three trees involved. But it is even more serious than that, because other park trees facing nearby Alpha Road may also be under threat from insurance claims, and if the current trees get chopped then it sets a very disturbing precedent and the whole park could then be under threat of the same treatment. If that happened what would be the fate of other city trees? There are other options for helping the householders involved, who have said they do not want the trees harmed. To absolve all blame from the trees, a root barrier could be installed near to the property, and the building should then be properly repaired, using methods able to cope with seasonal ground movement. But according to the council, there are no other options, in fact they have dismissed all other options suggested to them! YOU HAVE TO ASK, AFTER ALL THIS, CAN THE COUNCIL REALLY BE TRUSTED WITH OUR CITY TREES? THE ALEXANDRA GARDENS TREES MUST NOT BE REDUCED ANY FURTHER PLEASE PERSUADE COUNCILLORS TO STAND UP FOR THE TREES. . There is currently a public consultation, details are on the bottom of the attached flyer. WRITE NOW to that address, AND to your local councillors, AND the councillors on the planning committee, and Councillor Rod Cantrill who, as executive councillor, will take the final decision. Ask them to stand up for the trees against the demands of the insurance companies! Please also write to the local papers. Members of the planning committee can be found here: http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/democracy/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=181 and your local councillors (and Cllr Cantrill) can be found here: http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/democracy/mgFindCouncillor.aspx I have attached a flyer from the Alexandra Gardens Tree Group with more information. There is also much more information on their website, and ours too! Note that even if you wrote in last year, you must write again with another objection!! Don't forget to include your name and full postal address in order to be counted(!) The deadline is the 28th February. Regards, John Lawton SOS Chair --------------------------------------------------------- Save Our green Spaces http://www.soscambridge.org.uk --------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: My Flyer.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 286227 bytes Desc: not available URL: From chair at soscambridge.org.uk Thu Feb 24 08:58:36 2011 From: chair at soscambridge.org.uk (John Lawton) Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2011 08:58:36 +0000 Subject: [Announce] Message from the Glisson Road / Tenison Road Area Residents Association Message-ID: <20110224085842.JZSX20122.aamtaout01-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@Onyx-PC.soscambridge.org.uk> We've just received the message below from the Glisson Road / Tenison Road Area Residents Association. It concerns the fate of trees in the Mill Road and Tenison Road area. I believe that it is pertinent to the present debate on the fate of trees in Alexandra Gardens. Anyone living in the Mill Road area will have noticed the Cherry Trees outside St Barnabas Church which herald spring every year have been cut down by the Church. The loss of greenery makes a dramatic difference to any journey along Mill Road. Below is from the latest Glisson Road / Tenison Road Area Residents Association Newsletter which gives details: www.gtara.org More Trees chopped down: The last few months have been a disaster for our local street trees. Two groups of fine trees have been cut down. Last year we wrote to everyone to ask for your support in preventing the loss of the trees on the corner of Tenison Road and Station Road. We would like to thank everyone who wrote. It was great to know so many people care about our urban environment. Sadly we lost the argument. The meeting was attended by a Director of Brookgate (formerly of Ashwell now in administration) and a senior representative of Microsoft, the proposed tenants of the massive new office block. Councillors fell over each other to praise Microsoft and say there was nothing they could do about the trees. Some even replied to residents to say their hands were tied by a previous application that had allowed the destruction. This was only a partial truth since the previous application would never have been implemented. It required a contribution of several hundred thousand pounds towards the guided bus project. The new application allowed this payment to be deferred to an indeterminate date in the future. Council officers were concerned that the developer was suffering hard times and could not afford the payment, presumably Microsoft are also in a similar financial position? The result is that Council tax payers will subsidise Brookgate and we lose the trees as well. St Barnabas Church trees cut down. As if this was not bad enough last week our neighbourhood suffered another tree disaster. We have put 'before' and 'after' pictures on our web site www.gtara.org The beautiful and fine trees outside St Barnabas Church in Mill Road were either cut down or hacked back. It appears that the Church was granted planning permission last year to remove three large and well established flowering Cherry Trees and a large Maple tree. Two other trees, a Lime and a Maple have been severely cut back. The result is dreadful as you can see. (see attached photographs of before and after). If ever we were under the illusion that the Council was the guardian of fine urban trees we were wrong. It is for the street scene in Mill Road a disaster, made even more ironic by the fact that the recent Conservation Area appraisal single out the trees for praise. Clearly one hand of the Council does not have a clue as to what the other hand is doing. Once again we report the Council has fallen down on its duty in letting people know. We were told that adjoining properties were consulted but there was no response. We asked for the list and analysed who had been informed. A restaurant, several hot food take away shops, the bank, a hostel for Cambridge Center for Sixth Form Studies, and countless rooms in houses in multiple occupation. Why on earth do Council officials think that businesses and transitory students are going to make any comment? Is there not any common sense in the Planning Dept? The Church is of course planting replacements, three Prunus Umeniko cherry trees, but these are small and will probably never reach the same size as those destroyed. They are also proposing a single Euonymous Europaeus tree to replace the Maple. This again is a tiny replacement reaching an eventual height of 2.4 m The Residents Association raised the issue last week at the Council East Area Committee. On the advice of Allan Brigham the well known local historian and Blue Badge Guide we put forward two suggestions:- 1. That the Church be asked to plant mature replacements of similar stature. 2. To demand the Council to introduce meaningful consultation on trees in future. This should mean at the least far more visible notification on the site and telling many more local residents in nearby streets. The issue has been taken up by local Councillor Lucy Walker who has written to the Executive Councillor responsible Councillor Clare Blair. She in turn has passed the issue to the Head of Parks and open spaces. If residents would like to support the two demands above you can write to him at Alistair.Wilson at cambridge.gov.uk Glisson Road / Tenison Road Area Residents Association Chair Barbara Bell 23 Glisson Road, Vice Chair - Simon Szreter 18 Tenison Ave, Secretary - Frank Gawthrop 30 Lyndewode Road, Treasurer - Bronwen Loder 39 Glisson Road News from the Glisson Road and Tenison Road Area Residents Association 23.02.11 --------------------------------------------------------- Save Our green Spaces http://www.soscambridge.org.uk --------------------------------------------------------- From chair at soscambridge.org.uk Sun Feb 27 23:05:06 2011 From: chair at soscambridge.org.uk (John Lawton) Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:05:06 +0000 Subject: [Announce] Please stand up for the Alexandra Gardens trees! Message-ID: <20110227230642.VXXR28282.aamtaout03-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@Onyx-PC.soscambridge.org.uk> Dear All, I last wrote to you on the 22nd concerning the public consultation on the Alexandra Gardens trees. We consider that the Council has not properly considered all the factors presented to it in regard to the problems with the property concerned, and as a result is only looking at radical tree works options. We believe that they should completely reconsider the issue. The Council consultation ends tomorrow, Monday 28th, so there is still time to inform the council of your views. Visit the Alexandra Gardens Trees Group http://www.alexandragardens.org/news.html and of course our website http://www.soscambridge.org.uk for background information on the issue. The address for your response is mailto:alistair.wilson at cambridge.gov.uk A reminder also of the public meeting on Monday evening at 7pm in St Luke's Church hall, Victoria Road. I hope to see you there! John Lawton SOS Chair --------------------------------------------------------- Save Our green Spaces http://www.soscambridge.org.uk --------------------------------------------------------- From pale.aquamarine at googlemail.com Fri Feb 11 14:33:18 2011 From: pale.aquamarine at googlemail.com (Lisa Buchholz) Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:33:18 +0000 Subject: [Announce] Public Consultation on Forest Ownership Message-ID: Hello - DEFRA is holding a public consultation on the future ownership and management of the public forest estate in England. You may have already commented on this issue via action/pressure groups, but this is the formal public consultation (closing on 21 April 2011) to which you may wish to respond. http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/forests/index.htm Thanks Lisa Buchholz SOS Committee -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chair at soscambridge.org.uk Tue Feb 22 12:04:03 2011 From: chair at soscambridge.org.uk (John Lawton) Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2011 12:04:03 +0000 Subject: [Announce] VERY URGENT - Please stand up for the Alexandra Gardens trees! Message-ID: <20110222124338.SSBL25656.aamtaout04-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@Onyx-PC.soscambridge.org.uk> Dear All, I am sorry to tell you that the three trees in Alexandra Gardens under dire threat of felling since late last year are not saved. A tremendous campaign run by local residents of the Alexandra Gardens Tree Group, and their very thorough investigation into the problems suffered by a property over the road from the park led to a detailed report which they supplied to the council. This report concluded that the trees are UNLIKELY to be the source of the problem with the house. Curiously an initial private council briefing report for councillors did not include the resident's report at all. The latest public consultation document now does, but again curiously omits the resident group's arboricultural consultant's report - perhaps because it found that the trees were not to blame, and contradicted their own consultant's report. The officers are sticking to their previous position and are recommending a huge 70% reduction in the tree canopies of these trees. The trees have already been reduced by 30% in the past. Behind this position it appears that the council is afraid that unless they go along with the wishes of the insurance companies involved, they may eventually have to fight them in court, so they are willing to sacrifice the three trees involved. But it is even more serious than that, because other park trees facing nearby Alpha Road may also be under threat from insurance claims, and if the current trees get chopped then it sets a very disturbing precedent and the whole park could then be under threat of the same treatment. If that happened what would be the fate of other city trees? There are other options for helping the householders involved, who have said they do not want the trees harmed. To absolve all blame from the trees, a root barrier could be installed near to the property, and the building should then be properly repaired, using methods able to cope with seasonal ground movement. But according to the council, there are no other options, in fact they have dismissed all other options suggested to them! YOU HAVE TO ASK, AFTER ALL THIS, CAN THE COUNCIL REALLY BE TRUSTED WITH OUR CITY TREES? THE ALEXANDRA GARDENS TREES MUST NOT BE REDUCED ANY FURTHER PLEASE PERSUADE COUNCILLORS TO STAND UP FOR THE TREES. . There is currently a public consultation, details are on the bottom of the attached flyer. WRITE NOW to that address, AND to your local councillors, AND the councillors on the planning committee, and Councillor Rod Cantrill who, as executive councillor, will take the final decision. Ask them to stand up for the trees against the demands of the insurance companies! Please also write to the local papers. Members of the planning committee can be found here: http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/democracy/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=181 and your local councillors (and Cllr Cantrill) can be found here: http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/democracy/mgFindCouncillor.aspx I have attached a flyer from the Alexandra Gardens Tree Group with more information. There is also much more information on their website, and ours too! Note that even if you wrote in last year, you must write again with another objection!! Don't forget to include your name and full postal address in order to be counted(!) The deadline is the 28th February. Regards, John Lawton SOS Chair --------------------------------------------------------- Save Our green Spaces http://www.soscambridge.org.uk --------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: My Flyer.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 286227 bytes Desc: not available URL: From chair at soscambridge.org.uk Thu Feb 24 08:58:36 2011 From: chair at soscambridge.org.uk (John Lawton) Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2011 08:58:36 +0000 Subject: [Announce] Message from the Glisson Road / Tenison Road Area Residents Association Message-ID: <20110224085842.JZSX20122.aamtaout01-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@Onyx-PC.soscambridge.org.uk> We've just received the message below from the Glisson Road / Tenison Road Area Residents Association. It concerns the fate of trees in the Mill Road and Tenison Road area. I believe that it is pertinent to the present debate on the fate of trees in Alexandra Gardens. Anyone living in the Mill Road area will have noticed the Cherry Trees outside St Barnabas Church which herald spring every year have been cut down by the Church. The loss of greenery makes a dramatic difference to any journey along Mill Road. Below is from the latest Glisson Road / Tenison Road Area Residents Association Newsletter which gives details: www.gtara.org More Trees chopped down: The last few months have been a disaster for our local street trees. Two groups of fine trees have been cut down. Last year we wrote to everyone to ask for your support in preventing the loss of the trees on the corner of Tenison Road and Station Road. We would like to thank everyone who wrote. It was great to know so many people care about our urban environment. Sadly we lost the argument. The meeting was attended by a Director of Brookgate (formerly of Ashwell now in administration) and a senior representative of Microsoft, the proposed tenants of the massive new office block. Councillors fell over each other to praise Microsoft and say there was nothing they could do about the trees. Some even replied to residents to say their hands were tied by a previous application that had allowed the destruction. This was only a partial truth since the previous application would never have been implemented. It required a contribution of several hundred thousand pounds towards the guided bus project. The new application allowed this payment to be deferred to an indeterminate date in the future. Council officers were concerned that the developer was suffering hard times and could not afford the payment, presumably Microsoft are also in a similar financial position? The result is that Council tax payers will subsidise Brookgate and we lose the trees as well. St Barnabas Church trees cut down. As if this was not bad enough last week our neighbourhood suffered another tree disaster. We have put 'before' and 'after' pictures on our web site www.gtara.org The beautiful and fine trees outside St Barnabas Church in Mill Road were either cut down or hacked back. It appears that the Church was granted planning permission last year to remove three large and well established flowering Cherry Trees and a large Maple tree. Two other trees, a Lime and a Maple have been severely cut back. The result is dreadful as you can see. (see attached photographs of before and after). If ever we were under the illusion that the Council was the guardian of fine urban trees we were wrong. It is for the street scene in Mill Road a disaster, made even more ironic by the fact that the recent Conservation Area appraisal single out the trees for praise. Clearly one hand of the Council does not have a clue as to what the other hand is doing. Once again we report the Council has fallen down on its duty in letting people know. We were told that adjoining properties were consulted but there was no response. We asked for the list and analysed who had been informed. A restaurant, several hot food take away shops, the bank, a hostel for Cambridge Center for Sixth Form Studies, and countless rooms in houses in multiple occupation. Why on earth do Council officials think that businesses and transitory students are going to make any comment? Is there not any common sense in the Planning Dept? The Church is of course planting replacements, three Prunus Umeniko cherry trees, but these are small and will probably never reach the same size as those destroyed. They are also proposing a single Euonymous Europaeus tree to replace the Maple. This again is a tiny replacement reaching an eventual height of 2.4 m The Residents Association raised the issue last week at the Council East Area Committee. On the advice of Allan Brigham the well known local historian and Blue Badge Guide we put forward two suggestions:- 1. That the Church be asked to plant mature replacements of similar stature. 2. To demand the Council to introduce meaningful consultation on trees in future. This should mean at the least far more visible notification on the site and telling many more local residents in nearby streets. The issue has been taken up by local Councillor Lucy Walker who has written to the Executive Councillor responsible Councillor Clare Blair. She in turn has passed the issue to the Head of Parks and open spaces. If residents would like to support the two demands above you can write to him at Alistair.Wilson at cambridge.gov.uk Glisson Road / Tenison Road Area Residents Association Chair Barbara Bell 23 Glisson Road, Vice Chair - Simon Szreter 18 Tenison Ave, Secretary - Frank Gawthrop 30 Lyndewode Road, Treasurer - Bronwen Loder 39 Glisson Road News from the Glisson Road and Tenison Road Area Residents Association 23.02.11 --------------------------------------------------------- Save Our green Spaces http://www.soscambridge.org.uk --------------------------------------------------------- From chair at soscambridge.org.uk Sun Feb 27 23:05:06 2011 From: chair at soscambridge.org.uk (John Lawton) Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:05:06 +0000 Subject: [Announce] Please stand up for the Alexandra Gardens trees! Message-ID: <20110227230642.VXXR28282.aamtaout03-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@Onyx-PC.soscambridge.org.uk> Dear All, I last wrote to you on the 22nd concerning the public consultation on the Alexandra Gardens trees. We consider that the Council has not properly considered all the factors presented to it in regard to the problems with the property concerned, and as a result is only looking at radical tree works options. We believe that they should completely reconsider the issue. The Council consultation ends tomorrow, Monday 28th, so there is still time to inform the council of your views. Visit the Alexandra Gardens Trees Group http://www.alexandragardens.org/news.html and of course our website http://www.soscambridge.org.uk for background information on the issue. The address for your response is mailto:alistair.wilson at cambridge.gov.uk A reminder also of the public meeting on Monday evening at 7pm in St Luke's Church hall, Victoria Road. I hope to see you there! John Lawton SOS Chair --------------------------------------------------------- Save Our green Spaces http://www.soscambridge.org.uk --------------------------------------------------------- From pale.aquamarine at googlemail.com Fri Feb 11 14:33:18 2011 From: pale.aquamarine at googlemail.com (Lisa Buchholz) Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:33:18 +0000 Subject: [Announce] Public Consultation on Forest Ownership Message-ID: Hello - DEFRA is holding a public consultation on the future ownership and management of the public forest estate in England. You may have already commented on this issue via action/pressure groups, but this is the formal public consultation (closing on 21 April 2011) to which you may wish to respond. http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/forests/index.htm Thanks Lisa Buchholz SOS Committee -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chair at soscambridge.org.uk Tue Feb 22 12:04:03 2011 From: chair at soscambridge.org.uk (John Lawton) Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2011 12:04:03 +0000 Subject: [Announce] VERY URGENT - Please stand up for the Alexandra Gardens trees! Message-ID: <20110222124338.SSBL25656.aamtaout04-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@Onyx-PC.soscambridge.org.uk> Dear All, I am sorry to tell you that the three trees in Alexandra Gardens under dire threat of felling since late last year are not saved. A tremendous campaign run by local residents of the Alexandra Gardens Tree Group, and their very thorough investigation into the problems suffered by a property over the road from the park led to a detailed report which they supplied to the council. This report concluded that the trees are UNLIKELY to be the source of the problem with the house. Curiously an initial private council briefing report for councillors did not include the resident's report at all. The latest public consultation document now does, but again curiously omits the resident group's arboricultural consultant's report - perhaps because it found that the trees were not to blame, and contradicted their own consultant's report. The officers are sticking to their previous position and are recommending a huge 70% reduction in the tree canopies of these trees. The trees have already been reduced by 30% in the past. Behind this position it appears that the council is afraid that unless they go along with the wishes of the insurance companies involved, they may eventually have to fight them in court, so they are willing to sacrifice the three trees involved. But it is even more serious than that, because other park trees facing nearby Alpha Road may also be under threat from insurance claims, and if the current trees get chopped then it sets a very disturbing precedent and the whole park could then be under threat of the same treatment. If that happened what would be the fate of other city trees? There are other options for helping the householders involved, who have said they do not want the trees harmed. To absolve all blame from the trees, a root barrier could be installed near to the property, and the building should then be properly repaired, using methods able to cope with seasonal ground movement. But according to the council, there are no other options, in fact they have dismissed all other options suggested to them! YOU HAVE TO ASK, AFTER ALL THIS, CAN THE COUNCIL REALLY BE TRUSTED WITH OUR CITY TREES? THE ALEXANDRA GARDENS TREES MUST NOT BE REDUCED ANY FURTHER PLEASE PERSUADE COUNCILLORS TO STAND UP FOR THE TREES. . There is currently a public consultation, details are on the bottom of the attached flyer. WRITE NOW to that address, AND to your local councillors, AND the councillors on the planning committee, and Councillor Rod Cantrill who, as executive councillor, will take the final decision. Ask them to stand up for the trees against the demands of the insurance companies! Please also write to the local papers. Members of the planning committee can be found here: http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/democracy/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=181 and your local councillors (and Cllr Cantrill) can be found here: http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/democracy/mgFindCouncillor.aspx I have attached a flyer from the Alexandra Gardens Tree Group with more information. There is also much more information on their website, and ours too! Note that even if you wrote in last year, you must write again with another objection!! Don't forget to include your name and full postal address in order to be counted(!) The deadline is the 28th February. Regards, John Lawton SOS Chair --------------------------------------------------------- Save Our green Spaces http://www.soscambridge.org.uk --------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: My Flyer.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 286227 bytes Desc: not available URL: From chair at soscambridge.org.uk Thu Feb 24 08:58:36 2011 From: chair at soscambridge.org.uk (John Lawton) Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2011 08:58:36 +0000 Subject: [Announce] Message from the Glisson Road / Tenison Road Area Residents Association Message-ID: <20110224085842.JZSX20122.aamtaout01-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@Onyx-PC.soscambridge.org.uk> We've just received the message below from the Glisson Road / Tenison Road Area Residents Association. It concerns the fate of trees in the Mill Road and Tenison Road area. I believe that it is pertinent to the present debate on the fate of trees in Alexandra Gardens. Anyone living in the Mill Road area will have noticed the Cherry Trees outside St Barnabas Church which herald spring every year have been cut down by the Church. The loss of greenery makes a dramatic difference to any journey along Mill Road. Below is from the latest Glisson Road / Tenison Road Area Residents Association Newsletter which gives details: www.gtara.org More Trees chopped down: The last few months have been a disaster for our local street trees. Two groups of fine trees have been cut down. Last year we wrote to everyone to ask for your support in preventing the loss of the trees on the corner of Tenison Road and Station Road. We would like to thank everyone who wrote. It was great to know so many people care about our urban environment. Sadly we lost the argument. The meeting was attended by a Director of Brookgate (formerly of Ashwell now in administration) and a senior representative of Microsoft, the proposed tenants of the massive new office block. Councillors fell over each other to praise Microsoft and say there was nothing they could do about the trees. Some even replied to residents to say their hands were tied by a previous application that had allowed the destruction. This was only a partial truth since the previous application would never have been implemented. It required a contribution of several hundred thousand pounds towards the guided bus project. The new application allowed this payment to be deferred to an indeterminate date in the future. Council officers were concerned that the developer was suffering hard times and could not afford the payment, presumably Microsoft are also in a similar financial position? The result is that Council tax payers will subsidise Brookgate and we lose the trees as well. St Barnabas Church trees cut down. As if this was not bad enough last week our neighbourhood suffered another tree disaster. We have put 'before' and 'after' pictures on our web site www.gtara.org The beautiful and fine trees outside St Barnabas Church in Mill Road were either cut down or hacked back. It appears that the Church was granted planning permission last year to remove three large and well established flowering Cherry Trees and a large Maple tree. Two other trees, a Lime and a Maple have been severely cut back. The result is dreadful as you can see. (see attached photographs of before and after). If ever we were under the illusion that the Council was the guardian of fine urban trees we were wrong. It is for the street scene in Mill Road a disaster, made even more ironic by the fact that the recent Conservation Area appraisal single out the trees for praise. Clearly one hand of the Council does not have a clue as to what the other hand is doing. Once again we report the Council has fallen down on its duty in letting people know. We were told that adjoining properties were consulted but there was no response. We asked for the list and analysed who had been informed. A restaurant, several hot food take away shops, the bank, a hostel for Cambridge Center for Sixth Form Studies, and countless rooms in houses in multiple occupation. Why on earth do Council officials think that businesses and transitory students are going to make any comment? Is there not any common sense in the Planning Dept? The Church is of course planting replacements, three Prunus Umeniko cherry trees, but these are small and will probably never reach the same size as those destroyed. They are also proposing a single Euonymous Europaeus tree to replace the Maple. This again is a tiny replacement reaching an eventual height of 2.4 m The Residents Association raised the issue last week at the Council East Area Committee. On the advice of Allan Brigham the well known local historian and Blue Badge Guide we put forward two suggestions:- 1. That the Church be asked to plant mature replacements of similar stature. 2. To demand the Council to introduce meaningful consultation on trees in future. This should mean at the least far more visible notification on the site and telling many more local residents in nearby streets. The issue has been taken up by local Councillor Lucy Walker who has written to the Executive Councillor responsible Councillor Clare Blair. She in turn has passed the issue to the Head of Parks and open spaces. If residents would like to support the two demands above you can write to him at Alistair.Wilson at cambridge.gov.uk Glisson Road / Tenison Road Area Residents Association Chair Barbara Bell 23 Glisson Road, Vice Chair - Simon Szreter 18 Tenison Ave, Secretary - Frank Gawthrop 30 Lyndewode Road, Treasurer - Bronwen Loder 39 Glisson Road News from the Glisson Road and Tenison Road Area Residents Association 23.02.11 --------------------------------------------------------- Save Our green Spaces http://www.soscambridge.org.uk --------------------------------------------------------- From chair at soscambridge.org.uk Sun Feb 27 23:05:06 2011 From: chair at soscambridge.org.uk (John Lawton) Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:05:06 +0000 Subject: [Announce] Please stand up for the Alexandra Gardens trees! Message-ID: <20110227230642.VXXR28282.aamtaout03-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@Onyx-PC.soscambridge.org.uk> Dear All, I last wrote to you on the 22nd concerning the public consultation on the Alexandra Gardens trees. We consider that the Council has not properly considered all the factors presented to it in regard to the problems with the property concerned, and as a result is only looking at radical tree works options. We believe that they should completely reconsider the issue. The Council consultation ends tomorrow, Monday 28th, so there is still time to inform the council of your views. Visit the Alexandra Gardens Trees Group http://www.alexandragardens.org/news.html and of course our website http://www.soscambridge.org.uk for background information on the issue. The address for your response is mailto:alistair.wilson at cambridge.gov.uk A reminder also of the public meeting on Monday evening at 7pm in St Luke's Church hall, Victoria Road. I hope to see you there! John Lawton SOS Chair --------------------------------------------------------- Save Our green Spaces http://www.soscambridge.org.uk --------------------------------------------------------- From pale.aquamarine at googlemail.com Fri Feb 11 14:33:18 2011 From: pale.aquamarine at googlemail.com (Lisa Buchholz) Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:33:18 +0000 Subject: [Announce] Public Consultation on Forest Ownership Message-ID: Hello - DEFRA is holding a public consultation on the future ownership and management of the public forest estate in England. You may have already commented on this issue via action/pressure groups, but this is the formal public consultation (closing on 21 April 2011) to which you may wish to respond. http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/forests/index.htm Thanks Lisa Buchholz SOS Committee -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From chair at soscambridge.org.uk Tue Feb 22 12:04:03 2011 From: chair at soscambridge.org.uk (John Lawton) Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2011 12:04:03 +0000 Subject: [Announce] VERY URGENT - Please stand up for the Alexandra Gardens trees! Message-ID: <20110222124338.SSBL25656.aamtaout04-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@Onyx-PC.soscambridge.org.uk> Dear All, I am sorry to tell you that the three trees in Alexandra Gardens under dire threat of felling since late last year are not saved. A tremendous campaign run by local residents of the Alexandra Gardens Tree Group, and their very thorough investigation into the problems suffered by a property over the road from the park led to a detailed report which they supplied to the council. This report concluded that the trees are UNLIKELY to be the source of the problem with the house. Curiously an initial private council briefing report for councillors did not include the resident's report at all. The latest public consultation document now does, but again curiously omits the resident group's arboricultural consultant's report - perhaps because it found that the trees were not to blame, and contradicted their own consultant's report. The officers are sticking to their previous position and are recommending a huge 70% reduction in the tree canopies of these trees. The trees have already been reduced by 30% in the past. Behind this position it appears that the council is afraid that unless they go along with the wishes of the insurance companies involved, they may eventually have to fight them in court, so they are willing to sacrifice the three trees involved. But it is even more serious than that, because other park trees facing nearby Alpha Road may also be under threat from insurance claims, and if the current trees get chopped then it sets a very disturbing precedent and the whole park could then be under threat of the same treatment. If that happened what would be the fate of other city trees? There are other options for helping the householders involved, who have said they do not want the trees harmed. To absolve all blame from the trees, a root barrier could be installed near to the property, and the building should then be properly repaired, using methods able to cope with seasonal ground movement. But according to the council, there are no other options, in fact they have dismissed all other options suggested to them! YOU HAVE TO ASK, AFTER ALL THIS, CAN THE COUNCIL REALLY BE TRUSTED WITH OUR CITY TREES? THE ALEXANDRA GARDENS TREES MUST NOT BE REDUCED ANY FURTHER PLEASE PERSUADE COUNCILLORS TO STAND UP FOR THE TREES. . There is currently a public consultation, details are on the bottom of the attached flyer. WRITE NOW to that address, AND to your local councillors, AND the councillors on the planning committee, and Councillor Rod Cantrill who, as executive councillor, will take the final decision. Ask them to stand up for the trees against the demands of the insurance companies! Please also write to the local papers. Members of the planning committee can be found here: http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/democracy/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=181 and your local councillors (and Cllr Cantrill) can be found here: http://www.cambridge.gov.uk/democracy/mgFindCouncillor.aspx I have attached a flyer from the Alexandra Gardens Tree Group with more information. There is also much more information on their website, and ours too! Note that even if you wrote in last year, you must write again with another objection!! Don't forget to include your name and full postal address in order to be counted(!) The deadline is the 28th February. Regards, John Lawton SOS Chair --------------------------------------------------------- Save Our green Spaces http://www.soscambridge.org.uk --------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: My Flyer.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 286227 bytes Desc: not available URL: From chair at soscambridge.org.uk Thu Feb 24 08:58:36 2011 From: chair at soscambridge.org.uk (John Lawton) Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2011 08:58:36 +0000 Subject: [Announce] Message from the Glisson Road / Tenison Road Area Residents Association Message-ID: <20110224085842.JZSX20122.aamtaout01-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@Onyx-PC.soscambridge.org.uk> We've just received the message below from the Glisson Road / Tenison Road Area Residents Association. It concerns the fate of trees in the Mill Road and Tenison Road area. I believe that it is pertinent to the present debate on the fate of trees in Alexandra Gardens. Anyone living in the Mill Road area will have noticed the Cherry Trees outside St Barnabas Church which herald spring every year have been cut down by the Church. The loss of greenery makes a dramatic difference to any journey along Mill Road. Below is from the latest Glisson Road / Tenison Road Area Residents Association Newsletter which gives details: www.gtara.org More Trees chopped down: The last few months have been a disaster for our local street trees. Two groups of fine trees have been cut down. Last year we wrote to everyone to ask for your support in preventing the loss of the trees on the corner of Tenison Road and Station Road. We would like to thank everyone who wrote. It was great to know so many people care about our urban environment. Sadly we lost the argument. The meeting was attended by a Director of Brookgate (formerly of Ashwell now in administration) and a senior representative of Microsoft, the proposed tenants of the massive new office block. Councillors fell over each other to praise Microsoft and say there was nothing they could do about the trees. Some even replied to residents to say their hands were tied by a previous application that had allowed the destruction. This was only a partial truth since the previous application would never have been implemented. It required a contribution of several hundred thousand pounds towards the guided bus project. The new application allowed this payment to be deferred to an indeterminate date in the future. Council officers were concerned that the developer was suffering hard times and could not afford the payment, presumably Microsoft are also in a similar financial position? The result is that Council tax payers will subsidise Brookgate and we lose the trees as well. St Barnabas Church trees cut down. As if this was not bad enough last week our neighbourhood suffered another tree disaster. We have put 'before' and 'after' pictures on our web site www.gtara.org The beautiful and fine trees outside St Barnabas Church in Mill Road were either cut down or hacked back. It appears that the Church was granted planning permission last year to remove three large and well established flowering Cherry Trees and a large Maple tree. Two other trees, a Lime and a Maple have been severely cut back. The result is dreadful as you can see. (see attached photographs of before and after). If ever we were under the illusion that the Council was the guardian of fine urban trees we were wrong. It is for the street scene in Mill Road a disaster, made even more ironic by the fact that the recent Conservation Area appraisal single out the trees for praise. Clearly one hand of the Council does not have a clue as to what the other hand is doing. Once again we report the Council has fallen down on its duty in letting people know. We were told that adjoining properties were consulted but there was no response. We asked for the list and analysed who had been informed. A restaurant, several hot food take away shops, the bank, a hostel for Cambridge Center for Sixth Form Studies, and countless rooms in houses in multiple occupation. Why on earth do Council officials think that businesses and transitory students are going to make any comment? Is there not any common sense in the Planning Dept? The Church is of course planting replacements, three Prunus Umeniko cherry trees, but these are small and will probably never reach the same size as those destroyed. They are also proposing a single Euonymous Europaeus tree to replace the Maple. This again is a tiny replacement reaching an eventual height of 2.4 m The Residents Association raised the issue last week at the Council East Area Committee. On the advice of Allan Brigham the well known local historian and Blue Badge Guide we put forward two suggestions:- 1. That the Church be asked to plant mature replacements of similar stature. 2. To demand the Council to introduce meaningful consultation on trees in future. This should mean at the least far more visible notification on the site and telling many more local residents in nearby streets. The issue has been taken up by local Councillor Lucy Walker who has written to the Executive Councillor responsible Councillor Clare Blair. She in turn has passed the issue to the Head of Parks and open spaces. If residents would like to support the two demands above you can write to him at Alistair.Wilson at cambridge.gov.uk Glisson Road / Tenison Road Area Residents Association Chair Barbara Bell 23 Glisson Road, Vice Chair - Simon Szreter 18 Tenison Ave, Secretary - Frank Gawthrop 30 Lyndewode Road, Treasurer - Bronwen Loder 39 Glisson Road News from the Glisson Road and Tenison Road Area Residents Association 23.02.11 --------------------------------------------------------- Save Our green Spaces http://www.soscambridge.org.uk --------------------------------------------------------- From chair at soscambridge.org.uk Sun Feb 27 23:05:06 2011 From: chair at soscambridge.org.uk (John Lawton) Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:05:06 +0000 Subject: [Announce] Please stand up for the Alexandra Gardens trees! Message-ID: <20110227230642.VXXR28282.aamtaout03-winn.ispmail.ntl.com@Onyx-PC.soscambridge.org.uk> Dear All, I last wrote to you on the 22nd concerning the public consultation on the Alexandra Gardens trees. We consider that the Council has not properly considered all the factors presented to it in regard to the problems with the property concerned, and as a result is only looking at radical tree works options. We believe that they should completely reconsider the issue. The Council consultation ends tomorrow, Monday 28th, so there is still time to inform the council of your views. Visit the Alexandra Gardens Trees Group http://www.alexandragardens.org/news.html and of course our website http://www.soscambridge.org.uk for background information on the issue. The address for your response is mailto:alistair.wilson at cambridge.gov.uk A reminder also of the public meeting on Monday evening at 7pm in St Luke's Church hall, Victoria Road. I hope to see you there! John Lawton SOS Chair --------------------------------------------------------- Save Our green Spaces http://www.soscambridge.org.uk ---------------------------------------------------------