The Trees Of Spitalfields Are Saved
March 24, 2015
At the arrival of spring, it is my great pleasure to announce that – thanks in no small measure to the large number of objections submitted by readers of Spitalfields Life last week – the developers of the Fruit & Wool Exchange, Exemplar Properties, have withdrawn their application to fell the line of London Plane trees in Brushfield St and thus the trees are saved to flourish for another generation.
50 Responses
leave one →
Great news, well done! Valerie
I love your blog and although I am in Australia I was thrilled to hear the trees are saved!
Claudia
oh good
Congratulations the trees are saved. Same problem in Auckland NZ, a beautiful Kauri has been saved, these are wonderful trees, who are struggling with decease. They are the lords of the forest. Saved in the Titirangi area, a wonderful natural place – saved from the contractors.
Greetings from New Zealand Sandra Stewart
~ Hallelujah! ~
Hurray! Another triumph for the Gentle Author! Great work.
Great news to wake up too..
SO PLEASED! Plane trees deserve respect and appreciation for their ability to thrive and forgive ill-treatment.
Also V. PLEASED about your arm. That’s two good things this week..
Heartening news to wake up to, so pleased the trees are saved!
Dvelopers have no interest in a locality all they see is £ signs & will ride roughshod over any impediment to money making. As we know, this is happening all over our beautiful city!
that’s wonderful news! it’s made my day and I’m sure yours too!
Hurray! Well done Spitalfield Lifers!
And so they should stay. They are part of the character of an area that has been dear to me since childhood. We cannot live in the past but should take a leaf out of Barcelona`s book and live`with`the past. Trees are of vital importance everywhere in the world not least in such a built up area as this part of East London.
Delighted that you saved the landscape of Spitalfields as my ancestors knew them !
Oh so pleased Gentle Author, and how wonderful, and I am glad that from Oz this reader could put in a vote, and thanks to your readers, as well, I am sure, of many others over there, it shows the common voice can make a difference. I am so happy for you all, and for those living in Spitalfields, and of course for the trees themselves…..happy happy day.
Hurrah ! Congratulations to all who fought the campaign including our beloved “Gentle Author”.
The money that would have been spent on lopping those precious trees would be better spent on youth apprentice schemes in the area.
Fantastic result due to your hard work.
W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L !
Love & Peace
ACHIM
So pleased. As writing on the iphone I can’t access the reference from favorites but on the saveHOVE twitter acct last night I tweeted a link to a USGS article referencing a Nature one from 2013 of real importance concerning mature trees.
Please spread the word: mature trees increase rate of growth and carbon capture value with age. They CANNOT be replaced by new plantings of saplings without sacrifice of carbon capture value for a generation.
That said these trees need crown trimming by someone better than last time!
Well done Spitalfields Life – another triumph. Thank you. Let’s hope you’re as successful with Norton Foldgate.
Hurray! You really are a force for good!
Thank you GA, I do admire your work so very much.
Congratulations G.A., that is a very good result. Our townscapes are becoming ever more treeless and it is terrific news when environmental vandals are made to change!! Ever more power to your elbow (once the plaster’s off)
This makes me incredibly happy. Thank you for first of all sharing the bad news and turning it into good news.
Great news! Just when we think no one is listening…POW!…someone hears! Hooray!
What great news for us all; well done to all. People Power does work! sx hope you are on the mend with poorly arm
This is good news. I was looking at the trees on sunday afternoon as I drank an excellent cup of coffee at the stall in front of Christ Church which has a perfect view down Brushfield Street!
However it might be wise to petition or write to Tower Hamlets planners to ensure adequate protection is given to the trees during the demolition and construction period. Damage to the root systems, loss of branches and drying out of the trees could easily kill even mature specimens such as these. It can even happen that ‘accidents’ or neglect can remove the trees where a formal request has been refused!
(Former chair of a local authority planning committee)
Thank you Gentle Author, and to all the many small, determined voices who fueled this quite large victory!
Thankyou and well done. If these trees had gone the street would loose its beauty and this could never be replaced. Horrible to think that in this day and age there are people out there who see the cutting down of trees as acceptable. Thankyou Spitalfields Life!
Great to hear YOU are on the mend.
And GOOD to hear about these trees.
hurrah! well done everyone..
I’m so pleased to hear these trees have been saved. I wish I could see the same message being printed on your page about the beautiful trees situated to the side of Whites Row car park now being demolished. Are these beautiful trees also to be hacked down..
WELL DONE!!!!!!!
Hurrah, as we had to say at school! Very well done, but please, please, bear in mind what Andrew May has said re developers destroying trees anyway as happened here in Colchester. See my previous comment on this subject.
Also agree that the lopping has been very badly done in the past.
Pauline.
Yay…brilliant!
A very good result for all and an even better one for the trees most of those trees have been alive longer than the residents of spitalfields.
Congratulations to all who helped save these trees! May the rest of your Save Spitalfields efforts yield equal success.
Great news!
Excellent news!
This just is a clear message to the developers who threaten our beloved Historic Neighbourhood with such disrespect for all who live and work within it that we can make a change by using our voice.
David Milne.
That is great news! Well done
Be certain to listen to the wise words of Andrew May… he is so very right! Winning the battle isn’t the same as winning the war.
good news, thank you.
So pleased to hear the good news. London needs it’s street trees.
Aww, that’s very good to hear.
This is wonderful news! Congratulations GA and so pleased that your arm is on the mend.
Only last week I photographed these trees hoping that they wouldn’t become archive shots…well done for speaking out about their threat Spitalfields Life and thank goodness common sense has prevailed. Well done!
Very good news
Wonderful to have some good news – people power at its best!
Look what the Gentle Author can do with one arm tied behind his/her proverbial back! You and the community you shelter are an inspiration to us all.
What wonderful news. Mature plane trees are vital for biodivetsity, flood and pollution mitigation, not to mention their beauty and hugely beneficial impact on city residents’ wellbeing. Well done everyone.