A few more Sandwell trees saved !!

Sandwell, has published notices relating to its policies of looking after its countryside and retaining as many mature trees as possible.

I've shown this notice before, but it's worth another read. There are others of equally crass nature.

Whilst it is undeniable that Sandwell is retaining mature trees, it is also undeniable that an increasing number are now horizontal rather than vertical.

Here are a few which have bitten the dust in the last few days :-

Let's all wave a green flag for those honest souls buried deep in the bowels of Sandwell who are looking after the countryside so well and who are, in the process, retaining as many mature trees as possible.

Ably assisting Sandwell,  in its careful custody of the Sandwell Valley Country Park, are a number of increasingly present sub-contract arboreal specialists. 

There is no doubt that tree chopping is a growth industry in Sandwell - as well as being an oxymoron. 

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Sandwell Notices

Within 3 days of the appearance of the ‘farming’ notice to which I referred in my last post, Sandwell had put up not 1 or 2, but 3 notices of its own.

I don’t know, but I’m guessing, that the farming notice hit a nerve somewhere, causing the great Sandwell machine to grind into action, and in particular, to put the Sandwell Special Sign Secretariat (SSSS) on alert.

So serious were the allegations in the farming notice (that Sandwell is self-serving and environmentally indifferent) my further guess is that SSSS would have sought guidance from the secret and rarely accessed Sandwell High Intensity Thinktank. (Sandwell are currently working on an acronym for this unit – any suggestions should be sent directly to Sandwell but will probably be deemed as most unhelpful)

One of Sandwell’s notices was about the, now routine, removal of trees; shrubs and mature hedgerows, this time down a goodly length of Park Lane to facilitate the creation of another few hundred yards of plaited fences.

Another notice was about the further routine removal of trees and shrubs in Jubilee Woods. This follows a ‘necessary thinning out’ of the woodland which took place last year, and will enable the construction of a ‘fantastic’ mountain cycle trail.

But the notice which I found most interesting was about the huge cull of  trees and mature shrubs which has recently taken place at one end of Swan Pool and which has left the site virtually barren.

The notice says ‘  …. you may have noticed that some vegetation works have take place ….’       ‘….this has involved the removal of a number of young trees and areas of bramble ……’

‘ ….. we have retained as many mature trees as possible.’

Like here ................

.........  and here .......

......... and here .......

..........  and here ......

etc etc etc I've loads more photos of felled mature trees, in just the last 2 or 3 months, all round the Valley.

So, Sandwell, you carry on telling yourself about how you are retaining as many mature trees as possible, while the rest of us ponder the old adage – ‘You can fool some of the people some of the time, but Sandwell fools itself all of the time’ - if it thinks that anyone other than the Green Flag people, believes this kind of tosh.

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Farming at Sandwell Valley

On Saturday, 2nd March, 2013, a notice appeared attached to a tree by Swan Pool. It was a nicely done thing - properly laminated and so on - and seemed, at first sight to be from Sandwell. However, a brief scan of the first few lines left the reader in no doubt that it was a spoof.

Here is a photo of it. 

The bright sunshine behind me and the gloss finish makes it somewhat indistinct. For those who aren't able to discern its import, the gist of it is this.

The author objects to the massive amount of tree and hedge clearance which Sandwell have undertaken. He (I'm assuming for ease that the author is a 'he') says that the bird population has decreased significantly during the last 5 years which he attributes directly to Sandwell's actions, whilst at the same time farming activities, and the costs thereof, have increased with, he says, little or no return.

Well, I can't vouch for any of his facts and figures, but I do go along with his underlying point which is that Sandwell has without doubt caused colossal and irreparable damage to a once piece of unspoilt countryside. And I go further than him, because he makes no reference to the urbanisation of the Valley. My view is that the installation of CCTV; street lights; automated car park barriers; warning notices; barbed wire topped fences; litter bins; dog discharge bins and the like, all take away the 'natural' aspect of the Valley. There is nothing 'natural' there any more. Everything is either man made or man interfered with. 

And why?

My opinion, as often stated, is not that Sandwell has done this because it likes farmers. My view is that Sandwell has done this as part of a job creation and preservation scheme for some of its staff, coupled with the hope, and probably expectation, that one or more of its Councillors will at some stage get recognition for 'services to ..' something or other.

Call me cynical if you like but it's the only explanation I can come up with. 

No concerned organisation would ravage the Valley, at any time, in the way that Sandwell has done, unless it had a driving case for doing so. And no Local Authority would spend the money that Sandwell has done on work carried out during years when every penny spent should have been scrutinised and justified as absolutely necessary, unless it had a driving case for doing so.

Don't tell me that the driving case was Sandwell's all consuming desire to foster farming - especially as it sold off its dairy herd only last year.

And don't tell me that the driving case was Sandwell's response to a great upsurge of requirement from Council Tax payers. How many people live in Sandwell? 300,000? (... and there's close on a million next door in Birmingham!) And on a sunny summer's day, how many do you see there? And for most of the rest of the year how many do you see there? No, the evidence is clear that less than 1% of Council Tax payers have any interest in either visiting Sandwell Valley or what their elected representatives have done to it.

So if the people (who are the ultimate paymasters of Sandwell) aren't interested in the Valley - why has Sandwell spent so much time and money doing so many things which have completely changed the nature of the place?

There's only one answer.

Sandwell is doing it for itself; its Councillors and its staff. 

There can be no other reason.

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(You're) Welcome to Sandwell Valley Country Park

The last 3 months have seen an unprecedented assault on the trees and bushes at Sandwell Valley.

Sandwell have felled thousands of trees in Sandwell Valley during the last 6 or 7 years, but the last 3 months has seen the most concentrated and most widespread devastation yet.

The above photos show the former solid block of trees and shrubs at one end of Swan Pool having  been razed to the ground. For the entire length of the Pool, almost all of the vegetation is gone. A tractor with attachments has been grinding away at the last vestiges of  plant life and the area is reduced to soil level.

The internal pathway which runs parallel to Park Lane, most of which was 'surfaced' last year, now has nothing between it and Park Lane (above) for most of its length, most trees and all low level vegetation having been removed. It was always possible to hear passing traffic - now you can see it as well -- and a barbed wire topped fence on the other side of the path.

And the above refers to only 2 locations at the Valley, There are many more where chunks of woodland have become flat ground in the last 2 or 3 months and where mature trees and underlying vegetation have been wiped out.

Horrific is the word.

Most of the recent clearance work has been carried out by contractors, and they certainly went at it with enthusiasm. But there are 3 other groups of people (that I know of - there may well be more) who devote their time to cutting down trees and shrubs. There are the Community Pay-Back people (as long as the weather is OK); a band of local volunteers who hack around under the supervision of the Sandwell Rangers, and there is another small outfit who's minibus claims to be en route to a brighter environment - or something like that.

With so many organisations engaged in cutting things down at Sandwell Valley, it is hardly surprising that the place is melting away like the snow in sunshine.

And why do I care?

Well quite apart from the fact that it was the only place remotely like unspoilt countryside anywhere near Birmingham, it pretty much reflected my life.

As a boy, I was brought to Sandwell Valley with my brother and we played there and looked at the animals. Later, I took my girl friend there, and after she became my wife, our children went to play and look at the animals. Even when she was quite ill, we used to go for walks every Sunday morning from the Sandwell Park Farm car park. And now her ashes are laid there beneath a tree which Sandwell planted for me.

So when I see a landscape, familiar to me for decades, being ripped apart and destroyed in just a few short years, I see not only the end of a lovely thing, because it can now never be replaced, but I see much of  my life has disappeared as well.

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Nice Job Sandwell

Does anyone remember my post in January 2012 about the path round Swan Pool?

No?

I'm not surprised.  Wasn't that interesting I suppose.

Well, there's an update.

To save you looking back, there is a path, trodden by a couple of generations of feet, which runs round Swan Pool. In a couple of places this path had become impassable in very wet conditions, but, instead of just fixing those places, Sandwell decided to dig up the whole thing and put on a new surface of grit and stuff.(I hope I am not being too technical)

Of course, the Sandwell Special Path Secretariat caused this work to be started during the (predictable) awful weather of November, 2011, rather than the less predictable rains of Summer months. The result was a much longer job than otherwise might have been the case and a huge amount of muddy mess in the process.

No matter. The job was done, and, at a time, when few people would have seen what a lash up it was.

But.........

Problem.

Someone noticed, early in 2012, on, I think, their first circumnavigation of the Pool, that there was a 10 foot or so stretch of the pristine path which was under water !!!!!

And it was reported that there were other similar soggy places.

What was to be done?

No problem.

The great machine of the Sandwell Special Path Secretariat moved into high gear and by December, 2012, the solution had not only been found, but was being implemented.

Yes, a couple of  vehicles; a trailer; a digger and some other machine (unknown) with  a number of workmen appeared and by the end of January, 2013, the job was done. 

At least I think so, as to-day, Thursday, 31st January, 2013, none of them were there.

Quite what the job was, that was done, I cannot tell you. I haven't been to look. It was all too muddy for me.

But I am told that the nice new (and presumably expensive) path of barely 1 year old has been dug up in 2 or 3 places and 'drainage' pipes laid. One assumes that this is to solve the surface water on the newly laid path. 

Quite why no one didn't just put another foot or so of shale on top of the waterlogged parts is something known only to the Sandwell intelligentsia. But, anyway, it's done - apparently - and the contractors, so carefully selected by Sandwell, have left the area exactly as a visitor to the Sandwell Valley Country Park would expect to find.

Not for nothing did Sandwell post notices with the headline  ' Looking after your countryside.'

Nice job Sandwell.

Sandwell -- I am Sorry

Mea Culpa :: Mea Culpa :: Mea Culpa

 How could I have doubted Sandwell's wisdom? How could I have doubted the combined wisdom of Sandwell and the Environment Agency?

 Foolish. That's the only word to describe me.

 When, 3 years ago, I questioned the sense of Sandwell creating another run-off from Swan Pool at Sandwell Valley, just a few hundred yards from one which had been there since time immemorial, I knew in my heart of hearts that Sandwell and the Environment Agency would one day be proved right.

 And so it was.

 Just last week.

 The run-off, which had lain arid for so long, sprang into life with a virtual torrent of water gushing through it.

Actually, now I think about it, 'virtual' is perhaps the right word, as the flow was less of a spate and more of a trickle.

 But that's not the point. Sandwell and the Environment Agency were proved absolutely right in spending the 30 or 40 thousand pounds on creating the new run-off because the old one was clearly struggling - although, on second thoughts, it didn't seem to be.

Water was going through it at a fair old lick, but it looked as though it had oodles of capacity left.

 But it might not have. And that is exactly where the combined expertise and intelligence of Sandwell and the Environment agency really pays off and leaves us rank amateurs, who know nothing, standing.

 Because, if the old one had not been able to cope with unusual rainfall, and if the new one had not been constructed, where would the excess water from Swan Pool have gone?

 Would it have deluged into the nearby car park, and from there, out into Park Lane thereby interrupting the Sandwell/Birmingham traffic.

 Nope. It wouldn't.

 Why?

 Because the distance from the pool surface to the pathway at the car park end of Swan Pool was about a foot, and the distance from the pool surface to the pathway at the opposite, run-off, end looked, at the path's lowest point, to be 9 or 10 inches.

 So, instead of flooding one of the main arterial routes from Sandwell to Birmingham (I jest, of course) the water would have simply passed over the internal pathway; down the slight bank, and into the little stream that both the old and new run-offs flow into!

 No problem.

 So, although the new run-off does work, one is still bound to ask whether there was any real need for it, and the attendant expense, or whether it really was just something else, thought up to ensure the continued employment of managers, et al, at the two sponsoring organisations.

 I know what I think.

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Another First for Sandwell

Sandwell MBC has for some years now been carrying out a dual policy at the Sandwell Valley (so called) Country Park. One is to destroy as much of it as possible (just read my earlier posts) and the other is to urbanise the remainder.

The latest piece of urbanisation (dreadful word, I know, but so is what Sandwell's doing to the Valley, so it seems somehow quite appropriate) is to convert what was once a field into a car park.

The Sandwell Special Car Park Secretariat had planned for the conversion to occupy the three busiest months of the year, ie June to August, but it is isn't finished yet. It looked as though it was, but then it looked as though it wasn't - a bit like the concrete steps which aren't far away from the new concrete car park. Those steps appeared complete, after well over a year's hard toil and graft, but for weeks they remained off limits to would-be users, and then someone started drilling big holes in them and inserting handrails. 

So it is with the new concrete car park. After months of scraping off the grass surface and replacing with a shale and sand base and concrete blocks, all work shuddered to a halt; the chaps and their equipment disappeared, and the thing looked as though it had been finished. 

But, no !! Or, at least, maybe not.

After a couple more weeks, a new fence started to appear down the side of the the internal road about 5 yards away from the old one. 

Then, the old one was removed, thereby making the new car park about 5 yards wider than it was before. 'Laudable' you may say, 'They can get lots more cars in the new car park now.'

Well, no!! At least, not yet.

The problem is that the extra 5 yard strip doesn't have any of the concrete blocks in it - nor the shale and sand base installed. It hasn't even got the grass off it yet.

What it does have is a line of cones where the old fence was, to stop people trying to park on it.

So one is left wondering what, exactly, the Sandwell Special Car Park Secretariat has in mind for this added strip.

Obviously it is not going to become more car park. I was only joking about that. No one, not even Sandwell, would be daft enough (would they? Let's not take a vote on it...) to make a new car park and then start a secondary operation extending it even before the first bit was opened. I mean they would have to get all of the chaps back again with all of their equipment and close the place down again for, maybe, another 3 months, while the extra bit was concreted. No that would be just plain silly.

My thinking, and I don't think it can be too far off the mark, is that the Sandwell Special Car Park Secretariat, and the Sandwell Special Strategic and Forward Planning Secretariat have been liaising on this, and plan for the extra strip to become the Sandwell Valley Country Park Cricketing Centre of Excellence - or cricket pitch, to you and me. 

Now, OK, I'll grant you that some of the boundaries would be a tad short, but, on the plus side, the length would be simply wonderful. 

So, we could be on the brink of yet another first for Sandwell, and a glorious one at that. Remember it wasn't all that long ago that, despite the fact that WBA FC is only just up the road, Sandwell put up a huge coloured sign which proclaimed 'The Home of Football - Here in Sandwell.' And that was only on the back of a part-time 5-a-side football pitch and the adjacent playing fields.

Just think what the Sandwell Special Sign Secretariat could do with this. 

'''Forget Headingley. The Oval?  Nah  ::  The Home of Cricket - Here in Sandwell'''

Hoorah !!!!

That's got to be worth another Green Flag and an OBE for some tired old Councillor who's a friend of someone.

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