Trees !! What trees?

On 25th November a report, commissioned by the Forestry Commission, and entitled 'Combating Climate Change - A Role for UK Forests', was officially unveiled.

It confirms what most people have understood for years, namely that trees are not only good to look at, but also good for the environment. More particularly, trees and the provision of more trees, are seen to be one of the ways of combating climate change.

Quite apart from the fact that the report was written by, and attributed to, a number of expert people and bodies, it also has the endorsement of Rt Hon Hilary Benn, MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

He is reported as saying 'The Government welcomes Professor Read's report and as a nation we need to plant a very large number of trees over the next 40 years to tackle climate change by bringing down our carbon emissions.'

Imagine his disappointment then if he ever goes to a place called Sandwell Valley where they are chopping trees down as fast as they can.

Sandwell MDC is located just off the north western side of Birmingham. Until recently it was most famed for its resident football club, West Bromwich Albion. But the Council, reported last year as being one of the worst 4 councils in England, is now probably equally well known for its disasterous £52+ million art gallery 'The Public'. I won't elaborate on that here - it's well documented elsewhere!

But Sandwell does, of course, have redeeming features, not the least of which are its wonderfully responsive traffic lights (which could teach Birmingham a thing or two). Another feature, which is perhaps not quite as well known as it deserves to be, is a place called Sandwell Valley.

Sandwell Valley is an area of 2,000 acres or so of what used to be unspoilt woodland; lakes, and fields, with an RSPB reserve; priory ruins and a couple of farms thrown in. You can walk for miles and, OK, the M5-M6 link road goes right through it, but evenso, it's been a wonderful chunk of peaceful countryside, so close to the Midlands' big towns, for years and years.

That's all changing.

In the last 18 months Sandwell District Council have caused a huge number of trees to be felled, ranging from 100 year old poplar and mature willow to saplings.

And the destruction continues. Some 50 trees are currently marked with red paint and a further 40 or so with white paint. These will soon, presumably, join the other similarly marked trees that have been felled in the last 2 weeks.

Why, you may ask, is this destruction going on?

Various reasons are given.

1)Woods conceal gays; doggers; druggies; murderers, etc and so for 'public safety' reasons some need to be removed.

2)12 sparkling new 'water safety points' round a lake (Swan Pool) need 24 hour surveillance to prevent the local lads from playing with them. So a CCTV camera has been erected on a boat house near the lake and all trees between it and the safety points have been removed, for 'security reasons', to give a clear line of sight.

3)The poplars had become 'unsafe' so every one of them (50) were given the chop.

4)'Nothing has been done to the woodlands for years' so they are being 'thinned out' to let more light in.

5) 'They want a Green Flag'

But, however valid the reasons given may be (and, of course, some or all may not be valid at all) the result, in terms of trees, is that there are fewer. Not only fewer, but fewer of some old and magnificent trees which would take more than a generation to replace.

So what's this about a Green Flag that 'they' want - and, indeed, have now got.

Well, a scheme was launched in 1996 to recognise and reward the best green spaces in the country. 'It is also seen as a way of encouraging others to achieve high environmental standards.' per keepbritaintidy.org/greenflag.

Sandwell Valley has this year been awarded the Green Flag.

But why, you may ask, with such widespread destruction of the woodlands, and who is it that has made the award.

The answer to that is interesting.

The Green Flag Award scheme is managed by two organisations:-

(1) the Green Flag Advisory Board about which I have been able to establish nothing. The page, on the official web site, which is entitled 'The Green Flag Advisory Board' is blank!!
(2) the Civic Trust, on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Ho ho!!

So, Hilary, you better send your boys round to ODPM and find out why they are dishing out awards to places which are chopping down the very things which you think 'we need to plant a very large number of ....'.

Finally, and most depressingly, Sandwell have to-day posted a notice entitled 'Looking after your Countryside'. This contains a sentence starting 'Recently you may have heard the sound of chainsaws ....', followed by 'A chainsaw is a fast and efficient way of managing large areas of woodland.'

Saints preserve us!!

Hilary, there is not a moment to be lost.