Residents to Decorate Dead Street Trees to Highlight Their Loss
Residents and Nelson ward councillors will gather on Friday 23 June at 4pm to decorate some of the street trees that have died on Connaught Road with ribbons, leaves, flowers and messages to Norfolk County Council in order to highlight the loss of the city’s street trees and the County’s failure to provide adequate resources for planting new highways trees and their maintenance. (1)
In 2022/23, the County budget allocation for purchasing highways trees for the whole of Norwich was just £20,000 which paid for 49 trees. Norwich is currently losing more street trees than are being replaced. A citizen survey of street trees in Nelson ward last year found 75 dead or missing street trees and further trees have since died from the heatwaves and drought. Nelson councillors persuaded the County Council to find additional funding for nine new street trees in the Spring, but this number is still way below the replacement rate.
Councillor Julie Young, Green Party city councillor for Nelson ward said:
“It is dispiriting for residents and councillors to see so many dead and dying young trees. Nelson ward’s tree canopy cover is 13.6% which is far lower than the minimum 20% standard for inland towns and cities recommended by Forest Research, part of the Forestry Commission. Norwich has an overall tree canopy coverage of 18.6%, with nine of the city’s thirteen electoral wards below 20%. Green Party councillors want Norwich City Council to set a long-term target for increasing the city’s tree canopy cover to at least 25% and planting more street trees and maintaining them is essential for achieving this goal.” (3)
Notes:
1. Community Street Tree ‘Dressing’ Event on Friday 23 June – councillors and residents will gather at 4pm on the corner of Connaught Road and Maud Street. We will decorate three young trees which have died in the last few months outside numbers 50, 56 and 66.
2. In 2020, Forest Research conducted a desktop assessment of the tree canopy coverage for each of Norwich’s thirteen wards. Nine wards fall below the FR’s recommended 20% minimum level of provision. Overall, Norwich has 18.6% tree canopy cover. See below for tree canopy coverage figures for the 13 wards.
Bowthorpe – 20.2%
Catton Grove – 12.0%
Crome – 16.5%
Eaton – 27.9%
Lakenham – 20.6%
Mancroft – 10.7%
Mile Cross – 18.0%
Nelson – 13.5%
Sewell – 11.0%
Thorpe Hamlet – 19.3%
Town Close – 18.4%
University – 20.5%
Wensum – 18.0%
The above data is from UK Ward Canopy Cover Map, by Trees for Cities, Woodland Trust and Forest Research. This is a project set up in 2016 to measure the tree canopy cover of every ward of the UK. The assessment of wards in Norwich was carried out in 2020 The interactive map can be viewed here:
Plea to Residents to Help Water Norwich’s Street Trees
A plea has gone out to the public to water any newly planted street trees close to their homes to stop them drying out.
The Woodland Trust has joined forces with the Arboricultural Association and local authority tree officers in rallying the public to water young street trees during the summer months using greywater from washing up or baths and rainwater collected in water butts. Newly planted trees require at least fifty litres of water a week from May to August for their first three years to help them become established. (1)
Nelson ward Green Party City Councillor Hannah Hoechner said:
“In Nelson ward we are setting up a citizens’ tree warden network for street trees in our ward to encourage residents to water young street trees and monitor their health. Several young trees in the ward died in last year’s heatwave and drought and we want to prevent any further losses.”
As many as 50% of newly planted street trees die within the first year according to the Forestry Commission. (2) Rising temperatures and dry periods are taking an increasing toll on urban trees.
Councillor Hoechner added,
“We were pleased to see the County Council plant nine new street trees in our ward in April, even though sadly, several other trees died. Weekly watering by a council team is part of a three year maintenance programme to establish the trees, but residents giving them extra watering during the prolonged dry spell would be welcome. Without trees, people and wildlife wouldn’t thrive but climate change is making it much harder for our urban trees to survive.”
Greens Call for Major Boost in Council Funding for Trees
Nelson Green Party councillors have highlighted the loss of large forest trees and street trees in Norwich in a new report. Average tree canopy cover in Norwich is around 18.6% which is below the 20% minimum cover recommended for inland towns and cities by Forest Research, part of the Forestry Commission. Four wards in Norwich, Catton Grove, Mancroft, Nelson and Sewell have less than 14% tree canopy cover.
Councillor Denise Carlo said,
‘To address the twin emergencies of climate change and biodiversity loss, the Councils must commit to developing an ongoing major tree planting and maintenance programme , with annual tree planting targets aimed at creating a new arboreal legacy for Norwich for the next one hundred years’
Councillor Paul Neale added,
‘Norfolk County Council’s core tree planting budget for highways land in Norwich is miniscule. The 2022/23 allocation of £20,000 for the whole city has paid for just 49 trees which amounts to less than a one per cent replacement rate. As this level of funding, we will lose the city’s street trees apart from those in conservation areas. Norwich City Council’s annual tree planting budget funds fewer than 100 heavy standard trees. Both the County and City Councils need to radically increase their tree planting and maintenance budgets.’
We have recently suffered the hottest summer on record and temperatures are forecast to continue to rise. Trees, apart from their ecological benefits, help cool our city. Yet Nelson ward Green team has recently identified 59 gaps where missing or dead street trees need replacing. Norfolk County Council has a budget of £22,000 to spend on tree replacements in the whole of Norwich. This means that next year Nelson ward would get just FOUR replacement trees. Your local councillors have launched a campaign to get this sum increased and also for the City Council to develop a city-wide strategy for increasing tree planting.
Do your bit to help local trees Sign the petition online at bit.ly/norwichtrees Become a local tree warden – contact us for more information. Let us know if you’d like to help with the campaign.
Call for action on poverty
Greens urge support on cost of living
Green Party co leader Carla Denyer recently visited Norwich food bank with local councillors. She said: “Food banks shouldn’t have to exist full stop. In the light of the current cost of living crisis the Green Party is offering solutions, including making energy efficiency a priority.” She called for action by the government on the wage and fuel crisis. Norfolk County Councillor Paul Neale said: “Vouchers for heating are available and increasingly in demand, so donations of cash as well as time and food are welcomed by the foodbank.”
Increasing traffic a threat to health and climate
Local and national challenges to clean up air and cut carbon
Air pollution, accidents, speeding, noise and damage were some of the many issues and concerns raised by residents during our recent survey of traffic problems in the side streets off Earlham Road. Over 90% were concerned about speeding.
Cllr Paul Neale said: “We have prepared a report and presented the findings to Norfolk County Council, who have agreed to investigate further and take action. If you have issues to raise about traffic in your street contact us.”
Cllr Denise Carlo said: “We need more action on local streets instead of Norfolk County Council’s obsession with costly major road building schemes, which will do deep harm by increasing carbon emissions.”
Local climate campaigner Dr Andrew Boswell is taking the government to court to ensure emissions are properly assessed in road building decisions. Watch Andrew explain the case at bit.ly/HonestCarbon and support his legal costs at bit.ly/A47BNB_CJ
Dealing with litter problem
Cllr Denise Carlo takes direct action
Denise Carlo recently collected three bags of litter left near the Earlham Road shopping centre. She says: “There is a real problem here as the City Council won’t collect from this area since it is not public space and the absentee landlords aren’t doing so either. Preferably, of course, people should take their litter home with them.”
Highways update
Several local highways projects, such as Caernarvon Road parking permit scheme, congestion relief at the Christchurch /Earlham junction and no idling signage outside schools had stalled because Norfolk County Council had prioritised work on several major road schemes in the city. The ward projects, for which Councillor Paul Neale had gained funding, now stand a better chance of going ahead following his meeting with council officials who agreed to appoint private design contractors.
Published and promoted by Ash Haynes on behalf of the Green Party, both at 213 College Road, Norwich, NR2 3JD.
