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Stanstead lodge tree felling/preservation order
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MPC


Posts: 1
Joined: Feb 2008
Post: #1
21-02-2008 01:48 AM

Just wondered if there were any users of this forum who were affected by the recent tree felling in the grounds of Stanstead lodge (the large turreted Seniors building on Stanstead road between Fermor and Northwood roads).

About 20 or so large conifer/pine (I'm no tree expert!) trees were felled a few weeks ago. As a local resident there was no notification of this, just a sudden invasion of tree surgeons over a couple of days.

I sense there are many residents on Fermor road with gardens backing onto the Lodge grounds who now have a very different, less attractive view from there back windows. The landscape is totally different! I was fearing it was being done for potential building development but one of the tree surgeons said the felling was to let in more light to the grounds for the creation of vegetable patches!!

I think the council must have received some calls of complaint because a tree preservation order has been issued in relation to the sycamore trees at the front of the site and 5 lovely large oak trees in the grounds behind (a lime and maple are also included). This is encouraging although would still like to know what the felling was officially for, and for that fact who actually is in charge of those grounds, is it the seniors lodge or the housing company running the Blackmore House sheltered accommodation on Northwood road?

Anyway, good to see the Lodge itself (The former mayors residence) is being restored with lottery funding and the help of heritage for London.

So hopefully no more worrying surprises and the trees will remain providing... 'a valuable contribution to the amenity and character of this particular area' (the official wording on the tree protection order)!

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NewForester


Posts: 379
Joined: Feb 2008
Post: #2
21-02-2008 11:36 AM

The only time that permission has to be sought for any tree work is if you are in a conservation area (Notice of intent to carry out tree works in a conservation area) or if there is a TPO on the tree. Unfortunately it seems as though neither of these was the case.

I'm not sure of the point of the six week "Notice of intent to carry out tree works in a conservation area" as there is no requirement to post anything outside the property (no yellow planning permission slip), so unless you keep an eye on current planning applications, noone is aware of the intent. It seems to me as though Lewisham just wait six weeks and then issue the permission.

I hadn't realised that Stanstead Lodge was a council property; I always thought it was a charity. Nice to see it being smartened up though Smile Hope they spend that ?569,000 wisely.

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stevegrindlay


Posts: 104
Joined: Oct 2006
Post: #3
21-02-2008 11:41 AM

MPC wrote:
Anyway, good to see the Lodge itself (The former mayors residence) is being restored with lottery funding and the help of heritage for London.


I'm not sure any mayors have lived there. Stanstead Lodge was built in the early 1840s and the occupants are well recorded. The closest to a mayor living there was in 1949 when the house was opened as the Darby and Joan Club by Queen Mary, attended by the 84 year old Mayor of Lewisham, Alderman John Thomas Cummings, and Herbert Morrison.


For a random selection of items on local history visit my blog at:
http://sydenhamforesthillhistory.blogspot.com/
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NewForester


Posts: 379
Joined: Feb 2008
Post: #4
21-02-2008 03:52 PM

MPC wrote:
one of the tree surgeons said the felling was to let in more light to the grounds for the creation of vegetable patches!!

Looks like they'll be disappointed, unless he was talking about the Fermore Rd gardens
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&...6&t=h&z=19

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monkey


Posts: 1
Joined: Apr 2008
Post: #5
07-04-2008 11:38 AM

Not all off the trees were felled by man. One large one fell of its own accord. I believe the intention behind the the rest of the tree felling was to let in more light to enable the gardening group for the disabled to grow veg. They are a nice bunch of people who work at the lodge and will be happy to talk to anyone who has concerns.

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nevermodern


Posts: 653
Joined: Feb 2007
Post: #6
07-04-2008 03:53 PM

Widening this a bit, it does seem lots more trees are being cut down than are being planted in FH lately. It would be a real shame if we lost the green character of the area.

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Sherwood


Posts: 1,413
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #7
07-04-2008 04:03 PM

I would prefer the trees to be cut down rather than to just let them fall down.

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benji


Posts: 10
Joined: Jun 2007
Post: #8
07-04-2008 08:19 PM

I've been in touch with the council about the state of trees near our house - the council have their work cut out it seems. they grade trees depending on the state they are in - i.e very overgrown or dying - grade 1. those that need shaping or reduction are grade 3. Grade 3 work doesn't start until april 2009 at earliest.

As such, whilst no one wants to see trees cut down, looks like the council have so much work on that more trees may become susceptible to disease and thus end up being cut down because work to protect them can't be done quickly enough.

best to speak to local councillor who can advise from envirocall what status of trees are in a particular area.

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shzl400


Posts: 729
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #9
08-04-2008 08:48 AM

nevermodern wrote:
Widening this a bit, it does seem lots more trees are being cut down than are being planted in FH lately. It would be a real shame if we lost the green character of the area.


I would agree with this. Over the last 15 years, five mature trees have been felled in three private gardens adjoining mine (plus a 20ft high leylandii hedge, but that was no loss!).

The most recent and worrying of these was a large oak - must have been at least a couple of hundred years old. I spoke to the Lewisham council tree officer to complain, but she said that it was causing subsidence to the house next door. I hope they get heave instead - serve 'em right!

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SophieBee


Posts: 46
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #10
08-04-2008 10:34 AM

shzl400 wrote:
The most recent and worrying of these was a large oak - must have been at least a couple of hundred years old. I spoke to the Lewisham council tree officer to complain, but she said that it was causing subsidence to the house next door. I hope they get heave instead - serve 'em right!


To be fair, there might have been an insurance issue if it was known that the tree was causing subsidence and they did nothing about it. It's always a shame, but I can understand why they would have done this given how expensive and disrupting it can be to deal with subsidence.

Maybe they arranged for an oak to be planted somewhere else, I think I'd probably look into doing that if I found myself in a similar situation.

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nevermodern


Posts: 653
Joined: Feb 2007
Post: #11
08-04-2008 10:58 AM

I'd like to see a 'fell and replace' policy. Otherwise we'll find that in 20 years time there'll be no greenery left, which would be a tragedy.

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thenutfield


Posts: 235
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #12
08-04-2008 08:52 PM

nevermodern wrote:
I'd like to see a 'fell and replace' policy. Otherwise we'll find that in 20 years time there'll be no greenery left, which would be a tragedy.


it's already happened. every house in SE23 (and everywhere) used to have a front garden, with grass, shrubs, trees etc. Now most people seem to prefer to gaze out at the exhaust pipe of their beloved car, and a desert of paving slabs where their front garden used to be.

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IWereAbsolutelyFuming


Posts: 531
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #13
09-04-2008 08:22 PM

thenutfield wrote:
Now most people seem to prefer to gaze out at the exhaust pipe of their beloved car, and a desert of paving slabs where their front garden used to be.


Looking for brownie points (can you get those as a bloke?!) I did the reverse and spent easter bank holiday a couple of years back tearing up our frontage of crazy paving and 20 billion inch concrete sub-base with a pick-axe and sledge hammer. I now have a lovely green front garden but sadly not the ridiculous muscles that the weekend of graft temporarily gave me.

Back on trees and I've been really worried about what is going to happen to them all as well. We've just gone through a remortgage and the surveyor who performed the mortgage valuation insisted we have a tree report done. The nearest tree is 10 metres away, 'medium-sized' and in good condition so I considered this as overkill and the latest in a trend for surveys to be obsessed with avoiding surveyor liability rather than surveying*.

The tree report was very thorough and reported on all trees within about 30 metres of the property. Although it recommended 'tree management' in the form of cutting back and what-not in most cases it did also suggest removal might be considered on quite a few. I'd hate to think that the country's banks would start to have any say on the removal of trees, based on very small risks, just to allow someone to mortgage a house.

I should point out that I am not against the management or removal of trees that are damaging people's property (*I am a qualified, but not practicing, surveyor) but that I object to people being forced into the most drastic actions without being informed about other options which possibly aren't as quick or easy for all concerned.

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BarCar


Posts: 294
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #14
17-04-2008 06:58 AM

There were discussion about tree felling at the HOPRA AGM last night. Here is a link the source of some of the information I referred to in those discussions:

http://brockleycentral.blogspot.com/2008...peace.html

This article specifically relates to the cutting down if a mature tree in Brockley due, in part, to installation of CCTV which is being blocked by the tree. It is the background later in the article which is of general interest. To quote the relevant section:

Brockley Central wrote:
During the course of the meeting we heard some interesting background from the tree officers which I think sheds new light on this and other tree-related planning applications. Basically, Sean MacBride and Rick Farr have only been working for Lewisham Council for 18 months to 2 years; since they started they've been tackling a backlog of tree maintenance issues. This includes diseased and structurally unstable trees. Perhaps it's therefore unsurprising that we're seeing an increasing number of planning applications relating to trees as they sort out this situation.

The tree officers want to reach a point at which they can focus on pruning and maintenance rather than removal, but there's some work to be done before they get there. They are currently surveying all the trees in the borough and working out what action to take with those that need attention.

They have emphasised to us that they would really like to have a clear policy of one-for-one replacement, but the cost of new trees comes out of their budget, which is currently primarily taken up with dealing with the backlog of 'problem' trees. Affordability, rather than intention, is a real barrier for them.

The post also notes that replacement trees in Brockley are being funded out of the Localities money. To quote again:

Brockley Central wrote:
The tree officers have promised to plant three trees on Tressillian Road to compensate for this one, one of which will be funded by the CCTV manager as a direct replacement. The other two are part of the Localities Fund allocation, an issue we've covered in previous posts.

I personally think it is undesirable that the Localities Fund is being used to pay for tree replacement which should already be funded directly out of taxation.

All of this sheds an interesting perspective on the topic of tree removal and replacement in the HOPRA area.

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Theotherbrian


Posts: 95
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #15
18-04-2008 09:16 AM

I'm glad to see such a lively discussion on this topic as I thought I was getting cranky in my middle-age (although I am!)
I agree with the posts complaining or lamenting the loss of trees in FH. LBL seems to have no constructive policy on street trees or the like. In Dunoon Rd, Belgravia Homes felled a street tree to allow access to their development now called Montgomery Mews. Yet despite there being plenty of room, LBL did not require them to replace it - public loss for private gain. Contrast FH streets with those in neighbouring Southwark and they don't come out well - a comprehensive planting programme a couple of years ago has certainly improved those areas. We did get four trees randomly plonked in the top end of Dunoon Rd. however two seem to be dead! With so much talk about environmental issues and the importance of street trees in the urban space, LBL seems to be woefully uninterested.

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thenutfield


Posts: 235
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #16
18-04-2008 12:07 PM

IWereAbsolutelyFuming wrote:
Looking for brownie points (can you get those as a bloke?!) I did the reverse and spent easter bank holiday a couple of years back tearing up our frontage of crazy paving and 20 billion inch concrete sub-base with a pick-axe and sledge hammer. I now have a lovely green front garden but sadly not the ridiculous muscles that the weekend of graft temporarily gave me.


A man after me own heart! I have just done the same thing. I now have a lovely (mostly brown - I've run out of money to buy plants!) front garden instead of the helipad that was there when we moved in.

Back to trees, i noticed that Lewisham Council have recently planted some nice new trees in Mayow Road. I have enquired about whether there are plans to plant any in Perry Vale (a long road, with i think not a single street tree), but I am told there are no plans. Something else for the meeting on 2 June....

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IWereAbsolutelyFuming


Posts: 531
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #17
03-07-2008 10:55 PM

After two were suddenly taken down last year I fear another of Taymount Rise's trees will be gone by the end of Friday, judging by the signs that went up today.

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nevermodern


Posts: 653
Joined: Feb 2007
Post: #18
04-07-2008 10:01 AM

Taymount rise will have none left the way they're going.

Does anyone know who I should complain to? I feel quite strongly that if they cut down, they should replace.

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IWereAbsolutelyFuming


Posts: 531
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #19
04-07-2008 04:46 PM

Glad to report they just took out the old considerable sized stumps from last year's two tree removals.

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