Friday, November 06, 2009

Trees, Roots and Branches

We had a busy ward surgery this evening for a change. Two related problems came to light and probably neither of them has an easy solution. Clifton Avenue and Ashville Ave both owe a great deal of their character to the mature trees which line the roads. However, over the years of their growing they've had a deleterious effect on the pavements and sometimes on the walls of gardens and even garages. As a result some have been cut down and not replaced, upsetting those residents who live in those roads because they like to look out on trees. Meanwhile the unrestrained root activity of others make the pavements very uneven and inaccessible to wheelchair users. We need to have some discussions with the Council's arboricultural experts to see what if anything can be done to enhance the appearance of the roads while improving accessibility.
Riverside Lounge also came up - the length of time the development is taking and the amount of debris littering the area is a frequent cause of complaint and tonight was no exception. Once again it's a case of seeing what can be done within the laws relating to planning and development which all seem to be stacked in favour of developers.

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