Malvern News, Malvern Sport, Malvern Leisure - From The Malvern Gazette

Sickened by the carnage

From the archive, first published Wednesday 6th Apr 2005.

I AM sickened at the poor excuses given by Redditch Council regarding the reasons for tree removal.

One of the reasons was the roots of trees in the Church Green area were raising the pavements.

Had they considered this in the first place, that would not have been a problem but forward planning was never one of their strong points.

For example, the removal of these trees will see the root systems rot and cause subsidence. Further damage will be done to the pavements over time due to tree removal.

So far, a total of 26 trees have been removed from Church Green, with all manner of excuses as to why and what has replaced these trees - metal poles with holes in the top to symbolise Redditch's proud history of needle production.

How sad can you get?

The benefits of this eyesore are:

l They don't block out the view of CCTV cameras.

l They don't raise the paving slabs, tarmac or concrete paved areas.

l They need no annual maintenance from pruning.

Other trees in Church Green have been butchered beyond belief and now stand like gnarled monoliths relieved by chain saws of any branches.

When will this carnage end?

It seems to me the council is hell bent in turning Redditch into a concrete jungle bereft of any greenery or trees.

Have they forgotten Redditch's history? RED DITCH was the original name given because of the red clay ditch and bog land that this area was famous for. A wasteland good for nothing and waterlogged.

The monks at Bordesley Abbey drained the area and made Redditch a useful area for development.

The old Redditch Development Corporation, in its wisdom, continued their work by planting substantial trees in order for them to remove millions of gallons of water from the land and keep it reasonably safe from subsidence.

Now we have subsiding properties everywhere from Brock Hill to Banners Lane.

Businesses in Windsor Road now cannot get insurance due to development nearby raising the water table and causing them to be flooded out three times in the last two years.

When will Redditch Council start planning for the future and take into consideration the folly of removing substantial amounts of trees?

Perhaps when we can no longer get insurance due to flooding and subsidence, we can start suing the council.

Denette France

Member of TAG

Oakenshaw South

Archive Home