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From Peter Hargreaves.
EXPANDING on what was written in the JEP on 30 August on the felling of trees in Rue de Marais à la Cocque without notice to parishioners, the felling, significantly, was on Grouville parish land, so an opportunity to provide environmental leadership appears to have been missed.
Eleven trees were felled but there was no evidence all were diseased and indeed it was not reported whether they had been tested for disease before being cut down.
Were environmental and ecological impact assessments carried out before the felling? If there is a danger of trees falling, an environmentalist’s view is that you should cut the old (in danger of falling) trees, leaving the remaining trunk for wildlife. Was such an approach considered?
Environmental Grouville wrote to the Constable asking to meet him to discuss these questions and other implications of the felling, but he has so far declined to meet them.
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Response from Mark Labey, Constable of Grouville.
ALL the relevant information about the history of the trees in Rue de Marais à la Cocque has been posted on our website but I would like to add something.
Poplars, especially the Lombardy variety, look lovely in rows. We have an example north of the top of Grouville Hill and an even better one south of Rue du Moulin de Bas.
These trees have been wisely chosen for these areas, as they don’t border a road and can fall over or shed timber to their hearts’ desire without hurting anyone. As the warden of the Gorey Common, I have had extensive experience of the management and behaviour of older poplar trees.
We have white and hybrid black poplars there, which cost the chef tenants a great deal of money.
They gladly spend this to keep the public, and properties surrounding the common, safe from falling timber.
Every ten years or so they have to be pollarded to reduce the risk of falling branches. Each tree can yield up to six tons of extension growth.
On the common we have had to fell some large poplars recently because they have started to shed large pieces of timber.
One shed a limb onto parked cars in the Longbeach car park, doing extensive damage to three vehicles. Another shed a large limb onto the path leading out of the village, thankfully not onto a passer-by.
Poplar timber is soft and is only used commercially, as far as I am aware, for making matchsticks and cauliflower crates, which gives you an idea how soft it is.
Please, if you are going to plant trees anywhere, and I do so hope that everyone gets that opportunity, ask an expert which varieties to plant and where and don’t plant poplars next to a road.
Grouville Parish is going to be asking for volunteers to plant nearly 600 trees this autumn, as long as we get planning permission for our project, and this will include the replacements for these poplars in Rue de Marais à la Cocque.
Come and join us?
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