Joined up Thinking at Sandwell - I

I have previously shown some before and after photos of the approach to one of the motorway bridges.

These pictures are of one side of the other bridge.

A notice posted by Sandwell (the famous one wherein Sandwell extols the virtues of chainsaws in the context of woodland management) contains this sentance .. 'A number of hedgerows will be 'layed' Whilst it may look drastic, this is a very traditional way to look after hedge and ensure that it continues to be a good habitat for nesting birds.'

Not 40 yards from this notice, Sandwell have cut down a mature, 20+ year old hedge, of some 100 yards in length, and replaced it with a scrappy 3 foot high 'layed' mess.

It isn't even straight.

Just in case you think you are hallucinating, you have understood it correctly.

Sandwell has cut down a hedge which can already accommodate nesting birds, so that it can grow a hedge, to provide a habitat for nesting birds in x years time!!!

Grief!

As a thank you to themselves for having executed (and I think that's the correct word) such a splendidly lucid plan, the Sandwell intelligencia have rewarded themselves in the way which they seem most to appreciate. They were able to stretch the hedge chopping budget just far enough to take out most of the nearby mature pine trees and a few of the silver birch.

Bravo!

And in case you are wondering, Sandwell have done exactly the same on the other side of the bridge.

At this rate, Sandwell will get half a dozen Green Flags next year.

RIP Dartmouth Park - VI

If you look the opposite way to that shown in RIP Dartmouth Park - IV you can see the results of this week's 'restoration', ie 20 spaces where trees once stood, almost the full length of the fence.

All very tastefully done.

They made a neat job of the turf as well.

RIP Dartmouth Park - V

A few more trees bite the dust, or rather the mud.

A bonus for Sandwell, which seems hell bent on destroying the very things which it should be looking after, is that because of the wet weather, someone has been able to churn up parts of the turf as well.

What can be be in the minds of those who conceive and/or sanction this kind of civic vandalism?

Reasons which Sandwell have put forward for the widespread tree cutting in neighbouring Sandwell Valley include security; for public safety; so that saplings can grow and so that wild flowers can grow.

But none of these can apply to Dartmouth park where the trees are (were) healthy; widely spaced and in regularly maintained turf.

So what can Sandwell's different reason be for chopping down its healthy trees on both sides, and in the middle of, Dartmouth Park?

RIP Dartmouth Park - IV

This time last week there were 16 trees down this stretch of fencing.

Now there is 1.

The tree trunks shown in the photos on the 18th February post have now been cut down to the ground.

RIP Dartmouth Park - III

This is the biggie.

But I had exagerated. (I'm not always right)

It wasn't 5 or 6 feet in diameter, only just over 4.

And it wasn't hundreds of years old, just a few hundred!!

So that's all right then.

RIP Dartmouth Park - II

You've got to hand it to these Sandwell guys.

They don't do things by half.

There's one tree, currently horizontal and being dismembered, that must have a diameter of 5 or 6 feet. It must have been hundreds of years old. I'll get a photo of it before it is spirited away if I can.

When Sandwell says it is 'restoring' Dartmouth Park, I wonder if they mean they are returning it to its original flat, virgin state!

RIP Dartmouth Park

Dartmouth Park is located in Sandwell MBC. The park is contiguous with Sandwell Valley and, according to a notice erected on the road side of the park, is about to be 'restored'.

Readers may recall that Sandwell, proud possessors of the Green Flag, has, nevertheless, a predeliction for chopping down trees.

True to form, Sandwell celebrated the start of the 'restoration' of Dartmouth Park by chopping down a few more trees.

But Sandwell didn't take any chances. This had to be good - 'quality' being Sandwell's watchword. So, a specialist arborealist firm was called in to take care of this particular piece of restoration.

And one can see why Sandwell, with its reputation to safeguard, has gone to the expense of ensuring that the job was done with the utmost care. (Did I mention some time before that Sandwell was reported by the Sunday Times as being one of the worst 4 councils last year, or the year before, or some time?)

No doubt Sandwell spent some considerable time and effort in selecting the right firm for the job.

I wonder how many years it takes to produce a skilled arborealist who can pollard trees with such sensitivity as is now displayed at Dartmouth Park?