Street trees.
Many people many times raise the state of the street trees: the new ones that need watering, the dead ones that need replacing and what about those horrible plastic bags around the base of some trees? Are they really necessary for years? We have a WhatsApp subgroup – trees and gardening which could grow into a general interest group sharing information, gardening tools, seed and plants etc but in the meantime focuses on watering new trees during hot weather. If you are interested in joining this subgroup or any other please just email or WhatsApp us.
After listening to members concerns we wrote the following email to the tree section, copied to our local councillor, Meric Apak:
Dear Meric and Camden Tree Section,
We are writing this to you both in the hopes that you, Meric, can perhaps point us to a named individual in the tree section who we could establish some dialogue with. This dialogues can be focused and brief and would not represent an additional work burden on the department
And addressing the tree section – may we introduce ourselves as the Inkerman Area Residents Association which represents the area to the west of the High Street and north of Prince Of Wales Rd. We comprise 12 streets. https://www.inkermanresidents.org.uk/
Meric can confirm that Camden have accepted that we have been properly constituted and run in a representative way for the last forty years. We have an email membership of 400 and 200 on our main WhatsApp group, which is extremely active.
Our members are very appreciative of the street trees and the work of Camden in planting and maintaining these in spite of budget pressures. We have a WhatsApp subgroup of 30 members for those of us who undertake watering the newly planted trees which has led to a high level of survival. https://www.inkermanresidents.org.uk/uncategorized/two-green-developments-locally
We would like to continue that with your support and to discuss other assistance that we can give Camden.
However many of our members would also like to query the continuation of the watering bags at the foot of some trees. These are innately quite ugly and attract a huge amount of rubbish including dog poo bags which we periodically clean out.
Many of them are punctured and therefore do not actually release the water in the slow manner for which they are designed. Many of them have been in place for years although the guidance from the manufacturers suggest that three or four years is the maximum necessary. Some members have proposed they simply remove these and perhaps return them to Camden. We are not in a position to forbid that but we would much prefer to work collaboratively with Camden.
We would also like to discuss the fact that the supporting poles are largely disconnected from the trees as the ties have rotted. We would not necessarily propose removing the poles as they probably give some protection from vandalism – albeit almost psychological in that a bare tree can look more vulnerable and inviting to vandals. We have the experience of a broken tree in Anglers Lane. Some of the poles however are uprooted and leaning at angles and some are rotten and we would be happy to work with rehabilitating those.
We have very much appreciated being consulted about the selection of species of trees planted and we are glad that Camden has veered away from photinias and favoured malus or flowering cherry or amalancia
We are in the sad situation that we have a number of dead trees in the area and attach below a list although we know Camden must be aware of many of these.
We have also been given a legacy in the will of someone who lived in Alma St which could very appropriately be spent on planting a tree in one of the empty tree pit which as it happens is right outside her house. Is there any way that we can work generally with Camden to support the treeplanting program?
You may be aware that we have worked with Camden on the original creation and the recent rehabilitation of the Inkerman Garden in Holmes Rd where we have regular clear ups. Other members maintain the community garden along the west side of Raglan St which was planted in cooperation with Camden many years ago.
We are in the process of creating a complete survey of all the trees but it may well be that you have an authoritative one that you would be willing to share with us.
In the meantime may we draw your attention to dead trees or empty tree pits outside:
[Long list given…]
We look forward to hearing from you and to working with you.
[D&D]
We got a prompt reply from Meric forwarding our email to David Houghton who is Arboricultural Manager. We will post details of our progress.
Stay Club
This is the building on the corner of Cathcart Street and Holmes Road, which got planning permission to provide student accommodation. It has been causing a lot of problems for residents, with large groups of very young students – on school or college holiday visits – causing serious late night disturbance. We have been in touch with Stay Club managers to address this, and have set up a meeting in a few weeks time to talk about some of the solutions members have suggested. Meanwhile, they have told us about some steps they have already taken, and some that are planned (possibly including cameras outside the building). They also tell us that the last large group has gone for this year.
It would be useful if people who are affected by these issues could keep a note and brief us about any continuing problems before our meeting.
Family Fun day
There will be:Free snacks and drinks
Face painting
Art activities
Planting activities
Play activities by Assemble Play
and MORE!
Photographic exhibition with a local connection
One of our members has sent us this:
“I will be mounting a 10 image display as part of a large exhibition in the Mall Galleries at the beginning of September. Exploring the idea that “all the world’s a stage”, the pictures showcase my work in black and white exploring the urban environment and our position within it.
Of course, I appreciate the fact that some will not be able to visit the exhibition in London so I will share a ‘virtual exhibition’ on my website (briansandersphotography.co.uk)
Light and Land on The Mall | An Exhibition of Photography
Mall Galleries 3 Sep 2024 – 7 Sep 2024
Open: Tuesday 3rd – Thursday 5th September, 10am – 7pm
Friday 6th – Saturday 7th September, 10am – 5pm
Free admission, no booking required
Camden’s Transport Strategy
From the Council:
“In 2019, Camden published its transport strategy after consulting people who live, work, visit, and do business in the borough. The Camden Transport Strategy (CTS) sets out objectives to transform our borough’s streets to make travel safer, healthier, and more inclusive for all.
Our 3 year delivery plans set out priorities, programmes, and where in the borough we will focus our efforts to deliver the CTS objectives.
We are now developing the next 3 year plan for the period between 2025 – 26 and
2027 – 28, so are inviting you to hear about the delivery plan process and how you can provide feedback.
You can share your feedback on our transport projects and progress. You can also give us feedback and ideas through our interactive map.
We also have an online information session, which will take place on:
Thursday 5 September 2024: 17:00 – 18:00
You need to register for the online session in advance.
Please note, this session is the same format as the events we held on Wednesday 17 July 2024 16:00 – 17:00 and Tuesday 23 July 2024 18:00 – 19:00.
Please get in touch if you have any specific accessibility requirements for participating in the session.
If you’d like this information in another format (like another language) call us on 020 7974 4444 or email us at safetravel@camden.gov.uk“
D&D