New trees on High Street?
New trees on High Street?
Hi, has anyone tried bugging Lewisham council to get some young trees planted on the high st or in Sydenham in general, think it would make a real positive impact on the the high st. I know that Lambeth and other london boroughs are just about to start their planting seasons so I presume Lewisham must be the same. I'm in the bromley side of Sydenham so not sure if I would have any joy with the council. If someone has tried before or is trying now would be good to hear from you! Thanks
Had a search on the interweb & found the proposals for the high-street here...
http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/Environment/ ... Street.htm
If you look at Map 4, they say they 'hope to introduce some trees', they could be much more specific as I think get in as many feasible in would extend the leafier areas to the high-street. I would hope the pocket square on Venner Road did have too many trees planted as marked on the map, reason being they have line of sight & acoustics implications, hopefully the Arts or Music Festivals would make use of it in the years to come.
I wonder looking at the maps (I assume these are the same as the ones in the old Linen shop?) if is there likely to be an increase of traffic taking Silverdale as a route? Sometimes there are long tailbacks in the mornings already because of all the car parking spots blocking two lanes of traffic, are there any proposals to deal with this as I imagine it will get busier? The other are the two lanes on the Cobbs Corner roundabout Map 1. Should they reduce the size of the roundabout because it's not really wide enough for two cars once on the roundabout?
http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/Environment/ ... Street.htm
If you look at Map 4, they say they 'hope to introduce some trees', they could be much more specific as I think get in as many feasible in would extend the leafier areas to the high-street. I would hope the pocket square on Venner Road did have too many trees planted as marked on the map, reason being they have line of sight & acoustics implications, hopefully the Arts or Music Festivals would make use of it in the years to come.
I wonder looking at the maps (I assume these are the same as the ones in the old Linen shop?) if is there likely to be an increase of traffic taking Silverdale as a route? Sometimes there are long tailbacks in the mornings already because of all the car parking spots blocking two lanes of traffic, are there any proposals to deal with this as I imagine it will get busier? The other are the two lanes on the Cobbs Corner roundabout Map 1. Should they reduce the size of the roundabout because it's not really wide enough for two cars once on the roundabout?
Hi Newlands
It is nice to hear someone else banging on about trees, for a change.
Please, can you email the Sydenham Society and our local councillors with your views? And anyone else who really cares about this.
You rightly point out that other boroughs do not seem to have any problem planting lots of trees along their high streets, but Lewisham council officers have been very evasive about planting more than just one or two in the new scheme. The main bit of greenery we have at the moment is on private land.
I think it is vital to change the look and feel of the high street. Have you noticed how much better it feels already with some of the roadworks paraphernalia has disappeared?
Southwark have something called community councils with huge budgets - around £350,000 last year for just one area (!!!), which they can spend on anything the people who live there feel is necessary. Can you imagine if we had such a large budget for Sydenham?
Something they used it for was 'more trees'.
Can you imagine, we could
1. Green the roundabout
2. Plant more trees
3. Do up the Narborhood centre, as a community centre, or library - great for play groups etc (Sydenham Library is too far away from most people in Sydenham - this would be a much more central spot. And would bring people to the high street to use the shops).
Does anyone know if there is somewhere we can officially lodge our views on the scheme?
It is nice to hear someone else banging on about trees, for a change.
Please, can you email the Sydenham Society and our local councillors with your views? And anyone else who really cares about this.
You rightly point out that other boroughs do not seem to have any problem planting lots of trees along their high streets, but Lewisham council officers have been very evasive about planting more than just one or two in the new scheme. The main bit of greenery we have at the moment is on private land.
I think it is vital to change the look and feel of the high street. Have you noticed how much better it feels already with some of the roadworks paraphernalia has disappeared?
Southwark have something called community councils with huge budgets - around £350,000 last year for just one area (!!!), which they can spend on anything the people who live there feel is necessary. Can you imagine if we had such a large budget for Sydenham?
Something they used it for was 'more trees'.
Can you imagine, we could
1. Green the roundabout
2. Plant more trees
3. Do up the Narborhood centre, as a community centre, or library - great for play groups etc (Sydenham Library is too far away from most people in Sydenham - this would be a much more central spot. And would bring people to the high street to use the shops).
Does anyone know if there is somewhere we can officially lodge our views on the scheme?
The trees were part of the regeneration plan for the high street which is currently going up in the old curtain shop.
One issue I recall reading somewhere with the trees was that the roots may interfere with pipes and services below ground which is why there is a lack of trees in the vicinity.
There was a campaign by the mayor of london earlier this year about having more trees. I wrote asking for some extra trees along with some neighbours.
I'm looking forward to seeing the exhibition about the improvements. The real improvements will be the pocket parks (they work really well in Northcote road in Clapham). In reality things like new paving will look exactly the same as it does now in 6 months time and unless we get new shops and current owners change the way the shops look many improvements wont make much of a difference.
One issue I recall reading somewhere with the trees was that the roots may interfere with pipes and services below ground which is why there is a lack of trees in the vicinity.
There was a campaign by the mayor of london earlier this year about having more trees. I wrote asking for some extra trees along with some neighbours.
I'm looking forward to seeing the exhibition about the improvements. The real improvements will be the pocket parks (they work really well in Northcote road in Clapham). In reality things like new paving will look exactly the same as it does now in 6 months time and unless we get new shops and current owners change the way the shops look many improvements wont make much of a difference.
-
Wispy Wonder
- Posts: 137
- Joined: 11 Jan 2006 22:13
- Location: Sydenham
There was a message on the forum ages ago with a link to the council where you could request more tree planting. I used it a couple of times but they never got back to me - surprise surprise. I think more trees would be great. The issue of the roots affecting ground services could easily be overcome by planting the right types of trees. They'd certainly be a better addition to the High St than a mosaic.
W. Wonder
W. Wonder
It was me who posted that link Wispy Wonder.
It took two years to get ours, but worth the wait I would say. They did a site survey etc during that time. I think they have a certain annual budget for residential roads and are bound by that I think.
Although the Mayor is supposed to have a fund for trees or something, not sure how we can tap into that.
One or two trees is not enough for the high street, there have to be lots to have any impact. They don't need to be huge either.
It took two years to get ours, but worth the wait I would say. They did a site survey etc during that time. I think they have a certain annual budget for residential roads and are bound by that I think.
Although the Mayor is supposed to have a fund for trees or something, not sure how we can tap into that.
One or two trees is not enough for the high street, there have to be lots to have any impact. They don't need to be huge either.
-
goonerchamp
- Posts: 167
- Joined: 28 Jun 2005 12:18
- Location: Sydenham, Sydenham where the f**k is Sydenham
What about the use of something like these on the north side of london bridge - from recollection these have been changed now and have actual trees in them !!! - I'll have a look when passing this evening
http://tiny.cc/lohe3
obviously a small version would be required - but would still work no??
http://tiny.cc/lohe3
obviously a small version would be required - but would still work no??
Yes Boris Johnson has put a lot of funding into planting of young trees (one good thing he has done) and I know that other councils have planted hundreds of trees last year are are planning planting hundreds this year. I'm not sure how Lewisham has been with planting trees throughout the borough but haven't seen very many this side of the borough.
Also many trees are planted in pits containing pipes and cables, it's enevitable in suburban areas in all residential streets, high streets etc so I can't see this is a real reason.
From my experience it seems that if people are really persistant with councils they eventually get what they want. Well done Poppy! Did the link you set up before get many trees planted and is it something you could do again to try to get as many people behind it as possible?
Also many trees are planted in pits containing pipes and cables, it's enevitable in suburban areas in all residential streets, high streets etc so I can't see this is a real reason.
From my experience it seems that if people are really persistant with councils they eventually get what they want. Well done Poppy! Did the link you set up before get many trees planted and is it something you could do again to try to get as many people behind it as possible?