Trees in street (Feb 2013)

Lambeth Council are willing to provide trees in Baytree Road in conjunction with a planned road layout change (see 'Traffic and Parking' section on website for details on layout change).

The council have put forward "Tree Man" Dave J Paul to lead on the project.  Dave provided the residents with a list of potential tree varieties, which were shown to  the Residents Association meeting of 17th December 2012.  Dave subsequently marked some locations on the pavement by painting white "T"s where he believed trees could potentially be placed.

Baytree resident Stewart then kindly responded to a committee request to investigate the tree options and placement in more detail.  Stewart then wrote up his findings on the various tree options (see "Initial Research" subsection).  The placements suggested will to be discussed in the next committee meeting, likely to be held on 18 February 2013.

The diagram below shows the potential placement for trees in the central section of the street, marked out with an 'X'.  (Note: as detailed further below, placement of trees at either end of the street (without X's) are subject to Lambeth performing imminent tests to determine position of underground cabling/services).

Key:

T = 'Tree Man' Dave's initial suggested positions (i.e. painted white "T"s currently marked on the pavement)

X = Stewart's suggested alternative tree placement (central section of street only), noting a indication from residents at the association meeting on 17 Dec 2012 to have fewer trees than Dave painted.

O = Existing tree position

Note: Lampposts prohibit/hinder tree placement outside the following properties: 41/43, 49/51, 59, 8, 12/14.

Further background (update from meeting on 3rd February 2013):

1.      Dave Paul would like to put Bay Trees on each side of the road, at each end of the road.

-          At the Brixton Hill end Dave believes it may be possible to plant two Bay trees in the ground straddling the entrance to the road, very close to the corner of Brixton Hill.  If possible, this will clearly provide a striking entrance to the street at that point. There may also be a possibility of fitting in two other small trees at the start of the road, roughly where the current one-way signs are, although this will depend on the positioning of the new no entry signs.

-          At the Acre Lane end, the positioning here is more complicated because of the prevalence of service covers and the question of the re-positioning of current road signs ( the placing of these is not known at present ). Dave intends to place the two on this end of the road as close as possible to the corner of Acre Lane and Baytree Rd.

2.      Lambeth would like to plant trees on the north and south side (from Baytree 27 to Brixton Hill, and outside Arlington Lodge ).  However, it is feared that underground services may prohibit this.

Lambeth are to conduct a “scan” under the pavements to determine the exact location of services (at the Brixton Hill end of the street).  This will reveal the whether there is a possibility of planting.  Dave said the engineers had advised that the chances were not high.

Dave says that it will be possible to put planters in this area, as the pavements are not wide enough.

3.      Update on trees available:

-          Betula Utilis Jacquemontii: they have five of these available. If we can have trees outside Arlington Lodge, this would be the best location as they are more of a medium than a small tree and this area has a little more space.

-          Prunus Hillier Spire, Pyrus ‘Chanticleer’ and Acer Campestre are available.

-          We may also be able to have 2/3 Cornus Kousas – we are waiting to hear.

4.      Number of trees:

-          at the last meeting there was a strong preference for a smaller number of trees than suggested by the green T markings made by Dave’s team ( 12 on south side and 8 on north side, excluding the bay-trees and those outside Arlington Lodge ). Stewart has kindly marked up a map of Baytree Rd, with the positioning of these T’s and also a possible alternative positioning of a smaller number of trees ( 5 to north and 5 to south ) from nos 2 and 27 to Baytree Ct. ( Rob to circulate the map with this note ). These are not completely evenly spread because of the need to avoid lamp-posts and service covers. The number and positioning Baytree Ct to Acre Lane will be dependent on the new signage and bay tree positioning (council are checking).

5.      Positioning

-          the council will try to avoid placing trees directly outside front doors – they will also need to be away from service covers and street lamps.

6.      Decisions:

Decisions to be made include:

1.      The number of trees – are we happy with 5 instead of 8 as laid out in the map , or do we want more or fewer ?  

2.      The positioning of the trees

3.      The type of trees

4.      Are we OK with bay trees at either end of the road in the positions suggested by the council

5.      If we are able to have trees outside Alington Lodge and from Baytree Rd on the south side, how many trees?