Brian O’Malley angry at Swindon Council for cutting mature trees
10:00am Tuesday 12th March 2013 in Latest News By David Wiles
Not happy Brian O’Malley is angry with Swindon Council after trees along Sparcells Drive were cut down Picture: Stuart Harrison
GRANDFATHER Brian O’Malley says his estate has been ruined after Swindon Council’s contractor cut more than 20 mature trees down to just 6ft high.
Mr O’Malley, 65, says the trees, lining one side of Sparcells Drive, were about 30ft high and the environment they created was one of the reasons he moved to the estate 15 years ago.
But now he says they look ugly and fears they have reduced the value of properties, adding that he wants to air his concern in case contractor Swindon Commercial Services Ltd (SCS), tries to do the same with vegetation on the estate.
Mr O’Malley, who lives in Ryan Close, off Sparcells Drive, said: “These trees have always been there and over the 15 years they’re growing and maturing, and to me they’re improving the estate.
“To chop them down to 6ft high is destructive. It’s not individual ones, it’s the whole road, it’s just been massacred.
“And I wonder whether it’s going to go on around the estate. I believe it’s reduced the value of the houses in the area. It’s just the aesthetic of it, it’s absolutely ruining the estate.”
Mr O’Malley said the work started about two weeks ago. He said he quizzed one of the workmen, who told him it was being done at the request of the residents.
He said: “I’m a resident, I haven’t been asked. No one has discussed it with me. And I would have thought the majority of people in Sparcells wouldn’t want their estate to be destroyed.
“They’re chopping down what I would consider to be mature trees. I find it very difficult to understand that on a boxy estate like Sparcells, why people wouldn’t appreciate some mature trees.”
“I was also wondering whether it would be possible to put some protective orders on some of these trees.”
Coun Nick Martin (Con, Shaw) said: “I was not aware of it and I hadn’t requested it. On one hand we’re very keen for the contractors to be enthusiastic but we do want a conversation.”
Swindon Council was unavailable for comment.
Comments(28)
Stovepipe
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10:31am Tue 12 Mar 13
mjey
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10:50am Tue 12 Mar 13
till next election :-)
Morsey
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10:51am Tue 12 Mar 13
Tim Newroman
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11:04am Tue 12 Mar 13
RichardR1
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11:40am Tue 12 Mar 13
MissO
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12:14pm Tue 12 Mar 13
gina948
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1:11pm Tue 12 Mar 13
KAG888 wrote:The fact they've said they cant maintain the trees is utter nonsense! The trees all the way down the Pinehurst Road and Beech Avenue are trimmed back every other year!
Sparcells is not alone in its issue. In 2010 I asked Swindon Council to trim some trees, growing on their land, that had grown taller than my house and were blocking satellite TV reception. They came along to look at them and then returned to cut them down. All that was needed was a trimming but the manager said that they could not keep coming back to trim them in future years so they had to go! The area was left scarred and ugly.
gina948
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1:16pm Tue 12 Mar 13
Stovepipe wrote:Trees are beautiful and they soften the environment in which they grow. If the council cant manage them, their growth, their waste etc then thats just as much of a disappointment because its hardly rocket science is it and trees arent exactly a new commodity! You'd think that there would be money budgeted as part of the street service scheme every council nationwide has to accomodate for in order to maintain the streets trees safely.
Call in Special Branch. They're only trees, haven't you got something more important to whinge about, like, all the debris that falls from the trees and blocks the drains, and then causes flooding.
Davey Gravey
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1:21pm Tue 12 Mar 13
house on the hill
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1:35pm Tue 12 Mar 13
11:40am Tue 12 Mar 13
It's a pity they don't instruct private land owners with dangerous trees to cut them down.”"""
I think you answered your own question, its private land so nothing to do with them, I am sure you want your local council telling you what to do on your land.
Bimbosforjustice
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2:07pm Tue 12 Mar 13
Well done SBC
Monty73
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2:37pm Tue 12 Mar 13
Hmmmf
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2:45pm Tue 12 Mar 13
Ian13
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6:32pm Tue 12 Mar 13
Morsey wrote:The trees in Whitworth Road have been pruned, it's called pollarding.
Whitworth Road Cemetary as well ... destruction ... more cost saving on upkeep, one imagines ... 'Our Green And Pleasant Land!'
Morsey
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7:20pm Tue 12 Mar 13
Empty Car Park
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8:18pm Tue 12 Mar 13
Many birds will be building nests and other creatures would have been hibernating etc
The usual troll defending SBC, at all costs under many psuedonyms, does himself no favours in this instance as Nick Martin has already stated that it should not have happened and there was insufficient communication etc
PJC
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9:16pm Tue 12 Mar 13
Amberflame
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9:30pm Tue 12 Mar 13
Stovepipe wrote:"They're only trees" he says.
Call in Special Branch. They're only trees, haven't you got something more important to whinge about, like, all the debris that falls from the trees and blocks the drains, and then causes flooding.
Trees provide useful products
Even in towns, trees provide traditional products such as timber and fruit as well as new products, including wood chip mulch and renewable fuel. The chemical extracted from yew trees provides the chemotherapy drug Taxol.
Trees are good for wildlife
A mature oak tree can provide support for over 460 different species of insects, birds and mammals in shelters and hollows, as well as fruit, flowers and foliage that attract a huge variety of birds and insects.
Trees provide shade and shelter
With an increasing awareness of the problems of over-exposure to the summer sun, trees can provide a seasonal barrier to harmful ultraviolet radiation creating areas of dappled shade where people can escape from the famous heat of the British summer.
The evaporation of moisture from leaves acts to cool the surrounding air. One mature oak tree will absorb over ten times the energy emitted by a 1KW electric fire.
Trees create a local distinctiveness
Trees help to soften and frame buildings and developments, creating green spaces within the most built-up urban environments. Streets well populated with trees look far more attractive than those completely devoid of vegetation.
Trees can reduce noise in urban environments
Noise pollution can drastically affect the quality of life. Trees can help by providing a dense physical barrier. Noise levels can be reduced by between six and eight decibels for every 30m of tree cover. This form of noise barrier is often cheaper and more effective than fences, as well as providing additional benefits.
Trees can help strengthen communities
Trees can provide an opportunity for people to work together by volunteering to help with tree planting or woodland maintenance schemes. Communities can create and enhance areas that can be used for the benefit and enjoyment of everyone.
Trees can keep the ground stable
On sloping sites, tree roots act to prevent erosion and stabilise the soil. Over time, decaying wood and leaves will enrich the soil.
Trees help with cleaning the environment
With the increasingly frequent cases of asthma, especially in children, the benefits trees provide in cleaning the air should not be underestimated. The canopies of trees act as a physical filter, absorbing harmful gases such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide. Trees have also been shown to be very effective at trapping fine dusts and toxic particles, the trapped dust being washed to the ground by rain.
And yes, I have copied and pasted this from a website. Because to be honest I probably would have just commented on your unbelievable ignorance.
Stovepipe
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11:49pm Tue 12 Mar 13
tfidean
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1:11am Wed 13 Mar 13
house on the hill
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8:18am Wed 13 Mar 13
10:50am Tue 12 Mar 13
who said sbc is doing anything to improve our lives, they are to make our lives disgacefull.
till next election :-)”""""
And then what? They are all as useless as each other, so replacing one bunch of useless idiots with another isnt going to improve anything. Add into the mix the complacent lazy public sector staff they employ, the amount of money ripped off by Crapita, SCS, Backward Swindon and the needless consultants doing the work council managers are paid to do but cant and just what exactly do you think will change? The decisons will still be rubish ones just in a different way!
RichardR1
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10:00am Wed 13 Mar 13
Ringer
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10:46am Wed 13 Mar 13
Stovepipe wrote:good point they only cut down 20 trees FFS! Cant believe people on here going on about it being an ecological disaster LOL!
Well Amberflame (you shouldn't use your real name on these depressing sites, you never know who's watching) Now that you've improved your unbelievable ignorance with your plagiarism and stating the bleeding obvious, anything that us humans supposedly do to harm the environment doesn't matter one jot, what we do to the planet is the equivalent of flicking a baked bean at charging rhino, whatever will be, will be. Humans are the most insignificant creature that ever walked this planet, and we will most definitely not be missed, sweet dreams x x x
house on the hill
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1:25pm Wed 13 Mar 13
10:00am Wed 13 Mar 13
House here are many trees overhanging roads which are dangerous. The council do have the power to enforce removal or trimming. Too late if one falls on a car or person.”""
It was a political comment not a wooden one! Yes I agree that trees need cutting if dangerous, I was just saying dont rely on the council of any colour to get it right.
itsamess3
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2:29pm Wed 13 Mar 13
9:30pm Tue 12 Mar 13
Well argued comment--you forgot to mention the oxygen trees give out.
Bimbosforjustice
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2:31pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Millions of English Elms died as a result of SBC pruning trees and everyone died.
Get a grip people for god sake
Localboy86
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7:00pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Stovepipe wrote:but if a billion people flicked a baked bean at a rhino it would be dead, crushed to death under the weight of a billion beans. Stupid boy
Well Amberflame (you shouldn't use your real name on these depressing sites, you never know who's watching) Now that you've improved your unbelievable ignorance with your plagiarism and stating the bleeding obvious, anything that us humans supposedly do to harm the environment doesn't matter one jot, what we do to the planet is the equivalent of flicking a baked bean at charging rhino, whatever will be, will be. Humans are the most insignificant creature that ever walked this planet, and we will most definitely not be missed, sweet dreams x x x
KAG888 says...
10:11am Tue 12 Mar 13
They came along to look at them and then returned to cut them down. All that was needed was a trimming but the manager said that they could not keep coming back to trim them in future years so they had to go!
The area was left scarred and ugly.