Tree Preservation in Quarry
From:
Julia Gasper
Date:
Apr 07 14:15 UTC
Short link
I have discovered the reason why the application to drastically reduce the
beautiful ash trees at 16a, Trinity Road is no longer displayed on the same
page. It seems that the tree officer, Mr Leyland, has now put a Tree
Preservation Order on them, so they are listed under Works to a Tree with a
TPO.
That is good news, but it is no reason to be complacent. Trees with a TPO
can still be lopped, hacked and felled for no particular reason at any time of
year, merely by getting the permission of a Tree Officer, which is regularly
granted. Or of course it can be done without permission, in which case there is
not much anyone can do (in the short term) to rectify the harm.
So, many more objections from the residents are needed to ensure that these
lovely and majestic trees survive. Ash-trees, one of our most ancient native
species, do not grow any taller after the first sixty years, so there is no
need at all to prune them. Doing so would destroy the natural fan-shape of the
crown and reduce them to stumps. Since the woodland in Spring Lane has been
destroyed they are one of our last links with Shotover and they were incredibly
beautiful covered in the recent snow. Every day I see birds perching in their
top-most branches.
I see on the Council Planning Matters website the following words: "Note:
For reasons of confidentiality, Oxford City Council may choose not to display
certain Planning Applications."
That is very puzzling. Surely by its nature, City Council business is public
business and therefore should be open to the public. If some applications are
confidential, what happens to the princoplse that the public is entitled to
know what is going on and what is being done in our name?
It is rather curious that the citizens who pay the expenses of the Council, can
be excluded from knowing what the Council is doing. What reason is there for
this confidentiality in certain cases? Why is it necessary?
There appears to be a discrepancy here between confidentiality and the
principles of public accountability.
How is this consistent with the Freedom of Information Act?