Planting for the future - tree and hedge planting events

Local environment groups are organising tree and hedge planting events over the next few weeks. New volunteers are always welcome - you can bring your children or grandchildren too. Major tools are provided.

Wapley Bushes Conservation Group has work mornings on Sunday 18 February (this coming Sunday) and Saturday 17 March. Volunteers will be planting a mixture of native trees in the main woodland as part of a three-year planting project. They will also be pruning the local variety fruit trees and doing a litter pick - there are different types of work to suit everyone.

Meet at the Shire Way entrance to the woodland, south Yate, BS37 8US, 10.00am. Please wear stout footwear, and bring gloves and a pair of secateurs if you have them. The Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve blog has lots of information about Wapley and other local wildlife events.


Lilliput Conservation Group will be planting short lengths of hedge and drifts of bulbs in Lilliput Park on Saturday 24 February and Tuesday 6 March, plus tidying up the hedgerows and planting and litter picking. Again there is something for everyone, and you can work at your own pace.


Meet at the Kingfisher Road gate at 10.00 am. Please wear stout footwear, and gloves if you have them. You can check out the Lilliput Conservation Group on Facebook for more information.

Volunteers start major tree planting programme at Wapley Bushes

Wapley Bushes Conservation Group is carrying out a major programme of tree planting this autumn and winter, to deal with the threat of Ash Dieback Disease. This disease is carried by a fungus. Mature trees are the most affected - they lose their leaves and the crown dies back. It's within a dozen miles of Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve. If something isn't done now, within twenty years we will have lost all the high canopy in Wapley Woods.

The Conservation Group has come up with a scheme to plant other large native species throughout the woodland. This season they will be planting 90 to 100 trees - Oak, Lime, Black Poplar, Whitebeam and Wild Service trees. They are all native to the West of England area.

Hopefully members of the local community will come along and help preserve this wonderful woodland. Families with children are particularly welcome - it's really planting for the future. The Conservation Group supply the trees, the tools and gloves, people just need to wear wellies or stout footwear.

The first planting morning will be at 10.00 am on Saturday 18 November at the Shire Way entrance to the Nature Reserve, opposite the road entrance to Cherington, BS37 8US. There will also be planting sessions on Sunday 18 February and Saturday 18 March. The trees and preparation work are being financed by the landowners, Dodington Parish Council.

Some progress on protecting Rodford School site trees

All the relevant South Glos officers went to the site yesterday to meet the Bellway Homes planning manager and specialist consultants dealing with the ecology matters and tree protection. Local residents have been very concerned about what has been happening on the old Rodford School site - see our previous post "How much is a tree worth?"

They talked about the Ecological and Landscape Management Plan, which still hasn't been provided, to protect the boundary hedgerows and  provide  biodiversity enhancements.  It was agreed that there is minimal risk from the work to removing the hardstanding, so this can carry on over the next 6 weeks while the ELM Plan is being sorted out. Bellway has given assurances about protecting the protected trees during the work on the hardstanding.

Bellway will now provide South Glos with a detailed timetable (within the next few days) of key stages over the coming months including:

• When tree protection will be completed including additional fencing and signage. This is vital before any more sub contactors come on site to start the foundations.
• When the hard standing around the trees in the centre of the site will be undertaken. Bellway have confirmed that a method statement has been prepared for this work, and the contractor on site has been given clear instructions.
• When all the outstanding information will be submitted.

South Glos will be keeping a close eye on the site.

How much is a tree worth?

How much is a tree worth? Or a historic hedge, or local wildlife? Not much, some developers seem to think.

Take the Rodford School site, for example, which is being redeveloped into housing. We've already reported how valuable trees and habitat were considered less important than profits - at the planning stage local councillors were outvoted by others who don't live anywhere near here, and the developers were allowed to squeeze extra units onto the site despite the concerns about significant trees and hedges.

Now a second threat has revealed itself. Local environmentalists spotted that the builders were not complying with a lot of the habitat protection conditions required by their planning permission. A South Glos inspector visited the site, thought he had sorted them out, and went away. The local experts soon realised that the builders had started doing the same thing again, and had to ask the inspector to go back again.

We're now waiting to see what happens next. It's possible that the builders could be told to stop work altogether if they won't comply with their legal obligations.

Profit before people as trees chopped down on Rodford School site

If you live near the former Rodford School site, your local landscape has changed. Many of the trees on the site have now been cut down to clear it for the housing development.

The developers were given permission for this even though some of the trees had Tree Preservation Orders - many of the trees and hedges were there since before the estate was built.

All our local councillors voted to retain the trees with TPOs, but they were outvoted by the Tory and Labour councillors who don't even live around here. 

Edit 18/02/2015, as suggested by a knowledgeable reader: It's also important to make sure that the correct tree protection fencing is erected BEFORE any construction works start - if not they'll be in breach of planning condition. If anyone reading this sees diggers on the site before the fencing is up, please email paul.hulbert@gmail.com and we'll make sure it's reported. Thanks!

Residents and councillors watched the trees being cut down

Local councillors Tony Davis and Gloria Stephen.
You can see that they weren't impressed!

 

Turn your Christmas cards into trees

The Woodland Trust is again running a "cards for trees" campaign with Marks and Spencer - you can drop your Christmas cards into the recycling bins in local M&S branches. For every 1,000 cards dropped for recycling throughout January, a new tree will be planted in the UK.

Last year more than 8 million cards were collected, funding more than 8,000 trees throughout the UK.

Three years ago local volunteers planted 400 Woodland
Trust trees at Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve

Update 12/01/2015:  M&S at Yate haven't got a box for people to put the cards in, but you can hand them to a staff member at the Customer Service / Collection desk just inside the door. I did that this morning - Editor.

Recycling Christmas trees

If you have a real Christmas tree, South Glos Council say there are a number of ways you can recycle it when the festivities are over:

• If you have subscribed to the garden waste service you can put your real Christmas tree in your green bin for kerbside collection on your collection day. Please cut the tree into manageable pieces and make sure the tree is not wedged into the bin.
• You can buy a single use garden waste sack for £2 from your nearest South Gloucestershire library. Please attach the sack to the tree and leave out for collection on your bin collection day (you don’t need to worry about cutting the tree to fit it in the sack).
• You can also recycle your tree at one of South Gloucestershire’s four Sort It centres. 

Please remember to remove all decorations, pots and stands before recycling your Christmas tree. Recycled trees will be processed with the rest of South Gloucestershire’s garden waste and turned into fertiliser and mulch. To check your collection day please visit www.southglos.gov.uk/localconnection

Orchard for the Future planting "a resounding success"

Claire Young and Paul Hulbert with the volunteers of the Wapley Bushes Conservation Group

Wapley Bushes Conservation Group have called their latest planting day "a resounding success" as more than 40 trees were planted, forming a new Community Orchard on Wapley Common and nearby.

The trees on the Common are all local types of apple, plus a few plums of a rare local variety.

"It's good to do something so traditional yet so future-looking", said Dodington Parish Cllr Paul Hulbert, who organised the event. "We're very grateful to expert Graham White - known locally as Mr Fruit - who guided us through the planting"

South Gloucestershire Cllr Claire Young commented "This was a great way to spend a beautiful spring morning - fresh air, good company and exercise with a legacy that should last years"

The planting was jointly funded by Dodington Parish Council and South Gloucestershire Council.

Planting an Orchard for the Future - Saturday 12 March

Please come and help Wapley Bushes Conservation Group members and friends plant some groups of fruit trees on Wapley Common next Saturday, 12 March.

We aim to create a community orchard - an "Orchard for the Future", if you like - where in years to come our children and grandchildren will be able to come and pick delicious fruit straight from the trees.

The project is being funded by Dodington Parish Council and South Gloucestershire Council, but the labour is all being provided by local volunteers. The planting session will start with a workshop led by local supplier “Mr Fruit” (Graham White)

We shall be meeting at the Shire Way gate to the Nature Reserve, next to the zebra crossing near Cherington, at 10.00 am. It would be helpful if you could bring a spade and gloves, if you have them, and you should wear suitable footwear.

Network Rail - trees to go along Birds roads and back of Sodbury

Network Rail has written to householders in the "Birds" roads (Goldcrest Rd, Robin Way, Gullivers Place) and Gaunts Road to say that they will be removing the trees on the top of the railway cutting. In the case of the Birds this is everything the railway side of the allotment fence, plus the corresponding trees the other side of the cutting, next to the farmer's land.

The work is being carried out for safety reasons. The letter explains "Vegetation can create a host of safety problems. It is well documented that during the autumn months thousands of tonnes of leaves fall onto the railway line. Passing trains compress these leaves to form a slippery black substance on the rails which can cause the train wheels to slip in a similar way to black ice on the roads".

They have also told us that they are concerned that trees may fall onto the line or that there may be a landslip like the one a few months ago at Chipping Sodbury, possibly causing a major accident. Originally Network Rail hoped to be able to keep the trees on the very tops of the cutting, but they have reassessed the the length and concluded that it has the highest risk in the South West and South Wales.

We can't really argue with such a strong safety case, although it's going to look rather bare along there. For example the phone masts that were installed a while back will now stick out like a sore thumb. We tried to persuade Network Rail to pay a contribution to environmental work somewhere near this stretch, but they say that this is just routine maintenance (quite a few years overdue? - Editor) so they are unwilling to do so.

They aim to start work around the end of January, and say that it will take about four weeks to complete.

When the trees are gone the masts opposite Robin Way will be much more visible

Community digs in to hide mast equipment

Local residents and councillors have rolled up their sleeves to hide some of the equipment next to the large mobile phone mast on Rodford Way, Yate.

After consulting local people, Dodington Parish Council managed to persuade mobile operator O2 to pay for some screen planting. “We thought it would be a good idea to do this as a community project,” said Cllr Paul Hulbert. “The planting will mark all the hard work put in by the residents group and the Parish Council”.

O2 will also be repainting the mast light grey, the colour chosen by the majority of the local people responding to the Parish Council survey.

The trees and bushes were planted in a single morning. “We were helped by Thomas, aged seven, who worked harder than everyone else!” said Mandy Sainsbury. “So much so that we’ve decided to call it Thomas’s Garden”

Pictured are residents Karen Bateman and Mandy Sainsbury, Cllrs Alan Lawrance, Paul Hulbert and Mike Robbins, and budding "Capability Brown" Thomas.

Rail near Rodborough / Chedworth - they've started

They've started without notifying local residents. Network Rail moved in on site today. They have begun to strim the embankment from the Chedworth end and a digger is on site, presumably to start creating the entrance roadway.

The other day we said here: "If you live near the embankment, the next you hear MIGHT be a note from Network Rail saying they're just about to start". We seem to have been optimistic - we checked with contacts in Rodborough and Chedworth, but neither has received any notification from Network Rail. Community Relations seem to be rather lacking.

Residents dig deep to hide mast equipment

Local residents are planning a planting morning to camouflage equipment next to a controversial mobile phone mast on Rodford Way, Yate.

Dodington Parish Council leafleted local residents and found that a large majority were in favour of painting the large mast a light grey to make it less obtrusive. The council approached mobile phone company O2, who are not only going to repaint the mast, but have also agreed to pay for planting trees and bushes to conceal ground-based cabinets.

“We thought it would be a good idea to involve the mast protest group and other local people in the planting” said parish councillor Paul Hulbert (Lib Dem, Dodington). “Then people will keep an eye on it and hopefully deter vandalism”.

“We’re meeting at 10 am on Saturday 10 March to plant the trees. People will need to wear wellies but tools and gloves will be provided.”

“The planting was designed with local people. Our contractor will prepare the ground the day before, so a lot of of the hard work will be done for us”.

South Glos councillor Alan Lawrance (Lib Dem, Yate) said “This mast is still very conspicuous, but the planting will soften it. Dodington Parish Council are to be congratulated.”

“We are still concerned about other masts planned in our area, and South Glos Council is reviewing its procedures for negotiating with mobile phone companies. Under existing planning laws they can put masts in even if local people object, but we want to lessen the impact of future masts”.

Rail works in cutting behind The Birds and Sodbury

The western end of the cutting, near Goldcrest

There's still no further news from Network Rail about their proposed work to remove trees from the cutting behind the Birds and Chiiping Sodbury. We're trying to get them to leave the trees on the very top of the embankment behind the Birds to keep the screening effect, especially opposite the mobile phone mast. We have asked Network Rail to keep the trees behind the allotment fence and on the field edge opposite.

However it looks like they'll have to remove even the top trees behind Chipping Sodbury - parts of the cutting are unstable right to the top, as shown by the recent landslide (where they're still stabilising the bank behind Greenhayes, Smarts Green and Blanchards)

We'll let you know when we hear any more.

Rail near Rodborough / Chedworth - update

Just a note to say that we expect Network Rail to move in shortly (despite the lack of planting proposals, see previous post). They have almost finished negotiating the road access with S Glos. If you live near the embankment, the next you hear MIGHT be a note from Network Rail saying they're just about to start. Please ring Paul on 315851 or Kay on 317461 if you get one of these notes.

At a guess there are 250 mature trees on this stretch of embankment alone. How many replacements will Network Rail offer to plant?

Railway to remove trees, build up embankment near Rodborough

Network Rail are planning major works on the embankment on Westerleigh Road, Yate, facing Rodborough. They intend to clear all the vegetation off the embankment, build up the embankment in layers and widen the bottom of the embankment. Then they would put top soil on and reseed with grass mix. This would be about 3 months work. There would be a temporary road access somewhere opposite the entrance to Rodborough.

We can’t argue with safety works, but this is a lovely small piece of woodland. Many species of birds breed there regularly. Without these trees, people in Rodborough are going to feel that the trains are almost in their living rooms.

South Glos has asked Network Rail to do replacement planting, but there is bound to be considerable disruption. They are going to bring in about 13,000 tonnes of material – that’s about a thousand lorry loads.

The photo shows Steve Webb MP visiting the site with local councillors Alan Lawrance, Kay Crowe and Paul Hulbert.

Footnote - Network Rail is also talking about removing vegetation from the cutting behind Robin Way, Chipping Sodbury. We’re trying to find out more, and we’ll let you know as soon as we do.