Death of a Tree

Well it’s started … my office is now shaking and vibrating with the hellish sound of the death of a healthy, rare and beautiful tree. The man at the top has a chainsaw waving gaily around his ankles and the men at the bottom are rushing around like ants picking up the falling branches and plunging them into a munching, chipping machine and within seconds the tree becomes mulch.

You can see from the video the huge concrete sprawl of the hospital on the right side of the tree and how exposed this leaves everyone to that view – and just how huge the tree is.

The air outside smells pleasantly of evergreen and sap, it’s grey and dank and people are gathering in the lane looking sadly at what is going on. Mother has now gone away – been taken away to Dorset leaving me to supervise the wanton destruction of this majestic tree by tree surgeons who themselves don’t think it should come down. Having said that they are being professional about the whole thing and it isn’t their faults so I can’t be cross with them.

I can however be sad, be cross and be confused as to how this country works … a local planning committee votes unanimously in favour of a tree being preserved  in light of no evidence of it causing structural damage to the main property and on account of its benefits as an important visual amenity. The by virtue of the ‘fast track’ appeal process, some bloke from Bristol working for Eric Pickles wandered around the garden back in May and said that due the fact that ultimately bricks trump trees he had no choice but to uphold the neighbours appeal even though the tree was healthy, rare, beautiful and important environmental feature. WHAT was the point of the initial stage of the process? A decision affecting the local area supported by the local area over turned by some bloke in a suit. Not the way things should be.

Anyway – the heart is being cut out of it now … branch by branch.

heart being cut out of the tree