New Tree Takes it's Place in the High Street

I emailed the town council to ask if they would like to comment on whether interference with cables had affected their decision to remove the trees, but I am yet to hear back from them. Hopefully their reply will shed some light on the situation.

1. The removal of the trees had little to do with safety.
a) The alleged danger that the pavement presented to passing pedestrians was overstated, and not backed up with facts.
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b) If the pavement really had been a concern there could have been warning signs in place, prior to the trees' removal.
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c) The pavement around the third silver birch, in front of the St. Peter's Hospice shop, is more uneven than the pavement by Wildings ever was.

2. The other main allegation about the trees was damage to Wildings' awnings.
a) Jerry Dicker claimed that "birch is often colonised by aphids (greenfly), which ... makes it a bad tree for pavements, merchandise and awnings beneath – aphids exude a sticky honeydew on to everything below."
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However he did not expressly say that the two silver birches in question had aphid infestation.
b) The initial investigation of the trees, following a complaint from Wildings, revealed no such problem. This is from the minutes of the (recess) meeting of Thornbury Town Council
on 4 August 2009 [no longer available online]:
"A letter from the Managing Director of ‘Wildings’ had been circulated to members. Mr. James is concerned that the two Birch trees outside his store are spoiling the blinds of his shop and the roots lifting the paving slabs. Cllr Maggie Tyrrell said if ‘Wildings’ proposed to remove the trees it would require planning permission as they are in the Conservation
Area. Cllr Tyrrell had spoken to the South Gloucestershire Council Tree Officer and he had visited the site in May and sent a letter to Mr. James informing him that the Birch trees are structurally sound and free from disease."

3. The timing of the trees' removal reveals a lot.
a) The trees were removed shortly after the 6 January snowfall. The council could not get its refuse collection contractor, Sita, to empty black bins at that time, nor did it seem to have any idea of when collections could be made, yet it could remove the trees.
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b) The pavement area by Wildings received a generous application of salt on the morning of 6 January, whereas other parts of the pavement were left untreated.
c) At around this time Wildings replaced all its awnings. The old awnings (which showed the year of establishment) were not routinely retracted, when the store closed in the evening. The new awnings are retracted before the store is closed in the evening.