Solomon1   10 #205 Posted September 16, 2015 Re my bold. Flattery will get you nowhere!  Your worthy efforts in trimming your bush are to be commended but that does not detract from what I said of the council's responsibility to maintain roadside trees. I did not say you were not allowed to comment on here by the way...read it again. And I do forgive you...it's all part of the rich and varied service we Swamis are more than delighted to provide.  You are bloody hilarious old friend Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
the fonz   10 #206 Posted September 16, 2015 Re my bold above. "No doubt" in your mind perhaps. There are financial variables here that you, like many others, are conveniently overlooking. Trees with medium and large size crowns are the very trees that provide millions of pounds worth of ecosystem services each year, as evidenced by the Forestry Commission's assessment of these services in Edinburgh, Torbay and London using i-tree software, as well as a raft of similar research abroad. As air pollution levels in Sheffield continue to rise from industrial emissions and increasing use of cars childhood respiratory diseases are amongst the highest in the country. Sheffield records in excess of 500 premature deaths annually from this pollution and costs the local economy £160 million pounds a year. According to DEFRA, these pollutants cause heart and breathing problems, particularly amongst the elderly...and this costs the NHS £9.1 - £21.4 BILLION per year. Do you still argue that council policy is cost effective?  Cutting trees down such as you describe will INCREASE pollution not reduce it. That is inverted logic on a grand scale and is completely unsupportable evidentially! Please feel at liberty to point out where I have got that wrong and I will apologise unreservedly.  Once you accept the trees need cutting down, doing it one at a time creates more pollution that doing them all at once, im sorry but isnt that obvious?  Your facts and figures are interesting and correct, but i wonder have you ever actually carried out any cost benefit analysis, its not just as simple as saying trees reduce pollution. Trees come with associated costs, maintenance, street cleaning, risk and liabilities, you need to take all these factors into account when looking at cost effectiveness. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Mindfulness   10 #207 Posted September 16, 2015 (edited) Trees come with associated costs, maintenance, street cleaning, risk and liabilities, you need to take all these factors into account when looking at cost effectiveness  Indeed you do. And when it IS done, the ecosystem, ecological and economic benefits that the trees provide CONSISTENTLY outweigh the costs, over the life time of the tree. SCC need to be paying for i-tree analyses from the 2.2 billion allocated in the PFI contract with Amey, so that appropriate valuations can be placed on our street tree resource, an important part of the Urban Forest and also Sheffield's Green Infrastructure.  ---------- Post added 16-09-2015 at 23:59 ----------  The Star today: http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/sheffield-tree-campaigners-set-up-park-camp-as-controversy-grows-1-7462987 Edited September 16, 2015 by Mindfulness Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
1978 Â Â 14 #208 Posted September 16, 2015 Now on page 11 and still running! There are probably over 2 million trees in Sheffield. Â A high proprtion of our street trees are in poor condition, having grown larger than those who planted them expected. Â Over the last few decades many such trees were removed without replacement, possibly a third in my area. If we paid for replacements we got them. Â Under Streets Ahead removed trees will be replaced without direct charge to residents. Â From our window we could see 3 or 4 distant golf course fairways 30 years ago. Now all are totally obscured by the trees planted around them. Â The net annual growth of those 2 million trees must massively outweigh the losses to be experienced by the felling of some street trees. The new trees will soon grow. Â We didn't like it when the flowering cherry outside our house was removed (without any warning either) about 10-12 years ago. It's taken some time, but the little replacement is coming along well, and looks better suited to it's position. It's a greater shame that the rest of the trees removed on our road weren't replaced, and seems they won't be now. Residents may even have forgotten where they were. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
xdbx   10 #209 Posted September 17, 2015 (edited) As air pollution levels in Sheffield continue to rise from industrial emissions and increasing use of cars childhood respiratory diseases are amongst the highest in the country. Sheffield records in excess of 500 premature deaths annually from this pollution and costs the local economy £160 million pounds a year. According to DEFRA, these pollutants cause heart and breathing problems, particularly amongst the elderly...and this costs the NHS £9.1 - £21.4 BILLION per year.  And what "Industrial Emissions" are prevalent in S11 that require a full canopy? Its only really along the M1 corridor that its a major issue. Perhaps a concerted effort to persuade the gas guzzlers in that area of town would be more beneficial in the long run if your worried? links http://www.sheffieldeastend.org.uk/SheffTelApr2015.pdf http://www.sheffieldeastend.org.uk/ https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/environment/air-quality.html look at 2012 Assessment http://www.care4air.org/area/sheffield/  The removal of a few trees is nothing to the changes that we could make in our transport and domestic choices!. Edited September 17, 2015 by xdbx Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Gordonb   11 #210 Posted September 17, 2015 Does anyone know how many claims have been made against the council for injuries sustained by people "Falling over" the roots or pavements damaged by trees Also what does Amey do with the timber when they have cut it down? Does it get sold on to wood yards or the like, or does it get chopped up and sold for use by people with wood burners? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Lotusflower   10 #211 Posted September 17, 2015 Once you accept the trees need cutting down, doing it one at a time creates more pollution that doing them all at once, im sorry but isnt that obvious? Your facts and figures are interesting and correct, but i wonder have you ever actually carried out any cost benefit analysis, its not just as simple as saying trees reduce pollution. Trees come with associated costs, maintenance, street cleaning, risk and liabilities, you need to take all these factors into account when looking at cost effectiveness.  Re my bold above.  No!  What felling that does need to be done should be phased over decades, done in a sustainable manner that maintains, so far as is reasonably practicable, the shape, size and distribution of canopy cover (which determines the magnitude and value of ecosystem services).  Mindfullness has answered your financial questions elsewhere.  ---------- Post added 17-09-2015 at 09:56 ----------  Does anyone know how many claims have been made against the council for injuries sustained by people "Falling over" the roots or pavements damaged by trees Also what does Amey do with the timber when they have cut it down? Does it get sold on to wood yards or the like, or does it get chopped up and sold for use by people with wood burners?  Re my bold above.  Count them on the fingers of one hand!  ---------- Post added 17-09-2015 at 10:10 ----------  This is good reading matter for those contributors to this thread that clearly need to know more than they do before passing comment.   https://ianswalkonthewildside.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/not-a-good-time-to-be-a-tree/#comments Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Guest   #212 Posted September 17, 2015 How grim would the streets be without the trees! For peoples mental wellbeing everything should be done to keep every tree where possible. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Lotusflower   10 #213 Posted September 17, 2015 How grim would the streets be without the trees! For peoples mental wellbeing everything should be done to keep every tree where possible.  Well said Alan!  http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/07/09/scientists-have-discovered-that-living-near-trees-is-good-for-your-health/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
esoneulb   10 #214 Posted September 17, 2015 Well said Alan! http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/07/09/scientists-have-discovered-that-living-near-trees-is-good-for-your-health/ This post is typical of the whole thread. THEY ARE REPLACING THE OLD TREES WITH NEW ONE'S! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Daven   10 #215 Posted September 17, 2015 I don't have a strong opinion about this issue but it's a shame there isn't as much interest or passion about the plight of our fellow man as there is on here about the fate of 12 trees on a residential street. Just an observation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
taxman   12 #216 Posted September 17, 2015 This post is typical of the whole thread. THEY ARE REPLACING THE OLD TREES WITH NEW ONE'S!  Small new ones do not support the wildlife or biodiversity that big ones do. They are not replacing like with like therefore SHOUTING about it makes you look a bit ignorant.  I don't have a strong opinion about this issue but it's a shame there isn't as much interest or passion about the plight of our fellow man as there is on here about the fate of 12 trees on a residential street. Just an observation.  It's not just 12 though is it? They are being cut down right across the city. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...