please empty your brain below
Mind you, even a drop is better than nothing. My local council (Richmond) has been busy cutting down all its street trees near me.

Debster | 14.05.08 - 8:08 a.m. | #

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. I for one, like this idea and gimmicky or not, it is still a positive idea.

Mark Garth | Homepage | 14.05.08 - 8:13 a.m. | #

One tree per borough per week?
It may be positive, but it's also insignificant.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 14.05.08 - 8:27 a.m. | #

In your eyes, Boris can do no right. I think you may have to change your opinion. Perhaps you should have his name tattooed on your body.

fredbarker | 14.05.08 - 8:59 a.m. | #

The maths is not good here. It says that the money to be used is around £1 million. At 2500 trees a year that's £400 per tree.

Yet it goes on to say ,"using an average cost of £600 per year"....

My God, I'm so glad that I left London when I did. Boris' maths makes Alistair Darling look competent. A 50\\% cost increase in the space of a press release? Not even the 2012 Olympics managed that!!

dg writes: The maths is fine, but only if you include the £500000 of matched funding mentioned in the penultimate paragraph.

sboy2010 | 14.05.08 - 9:05 a.m. | #

Our block of flats gets the Londonder. They're left in the doorway and no-one seems to take them (and lets face it, it's not exactly riveting reading if you do open it).

Vic | Homepage | 14.05.08 - 9:12 a.m. | #

But why can't they continue to make The Londoner available online ? Thats how I read it and it involves no trees.

It may have been Ken's propaganda mouthpiece but at least as a taxpayer I got some idea what was being done with my money and what the people we voted for are doing.

Pedantic of Purley | 14.05.08 - 9:31 a.m. | #

Where is the rest of the money going? One destination may be to make up the shortfall in the transport budget if/when the western part of the congestion charge zone gets binned...

Alan | 14.05.08 - 9:46 a.m. | #

What about this?
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/23...doner-
freesheet

Johnny Topaz | 14.05.08 - 10:31 a.m. | #

One tree is better than none !
Are they ENGLISH oaks , That would explain why that Anti English Livingstone had nothing to do with them.

Trees or no trees Londonere will be better off without that rat Livingstone.

Colin in Thailand | 14.05.08 - 11:20 a.m. | #

It'll be interesting to see if DG is right about this. A Creme Egg says he is. I can't wait to see who ends up with the most trees.

SSS | Homepage | 14.05.08 - 11:35 a.m. | #

£600 per tree?? Really?? Are they going to be fully grown monsters transplanted from a forest somewhere? Or do tree planters get paid lots and lots of money?

Gina | 14.05.08 - 11:53 a.m. | #

Boris has merely come up with a cross between Trunk Idol and Twig Brother.

You have a splendid way with words, DG. That bit certainly made me chuckle.

Anyway, I read about this yesterday in the Standard. I say it's an interesting idea, and it is indeed better than nothing. However, I do agree that 40 areas is perhaps a bit too few. Perhaps it would be better increasing that to a hundred or so? I mean, we're saving £2.9 million here, so I think it would be safe to allocate a bit more than £1 million of that to spruce up (pun intended) a few more areas of London.

Still, at least Boris seems to be eager to maintain London's greenery, which is more than can be said for a certain Ken Livingstone.

Andrewh | 14.05.08 - 12:04 p.m. | #

We had tree's planted in our borough under Ken.. infact, we had two planted in our street alone in the final days of Kens reign..

Fimb | Homepage | 14.05.08 - 12:16 p.m. | #

£600 per tree!?!(Where's the interrobang key when you need it?!?) I'm in the wrong job. I'm going to scrap the carnivorous plants currently growing on my window sill (ok, currently failing to even germinate) and plant London Plane seeds. I only need 50 of them to germinate a year and I can give up the 9-5.
I assume there are some other costs involved, but since the planting and care are done by volunteers, I have no idea what they are. Anybody have a clue?

Kradlum | Homepage | 14.05.08 - 12:17 p.m. | #

I also used to get it, and ignoring the partisan gloss it was always worth skimming through.

And the sort of numbers that are being talked about will make no difference to the day to day tree replaement cycle that goes on in all boroughs. It's as meaningless as the announcement "BoJo has negotiated the use of Oyster across all lines" Sorry??? That was happening anyway. Shurley shum mishtake.

Ham | Homepage | 14.05.08 - 1:05 p.m. | #

"Still, at least Boris seems to be eager to maintain London's greenery, which is more than can be said for a certain Ken Livingstone."

400,000 trees were planted under Ken's leadership and he'd pledged 600,000 more - that's fair amount more than Boris has promised.

Geoff | 14.05.08 - 2:01 p.m. | #

I agree, £600 does seem like a lot for a tree. According to Hounslow, a young street tree costs £225, and a scheme in Harley Street planted 45 trees at £300 per tree. Even in terms of maintenance, it can't cost that much to do a bit of watering, can it?

On a slightly different note, could I bring up the following:

1. Bicycle-loving Boris has appointed the head of the least cycle-friendly (and most car-friendly) borough in Inner London as his senior planning adviser?

2. "I’m against bossiness" (on voting on retaining Section 28 ); then banning alcohol on public transport?

It's all very sinister, the difference between the PR and the policy. So are Colin in Thailand's comments. I hope everyone knows to ignore this xenophobic twaddle.

amanda | Homepage | 14.05.08 - 2:25 p.m. | #

Since when did this turn into a anti-mayor's office blog? He's only been for few days and everything now seems to be a moan. I'm a Hackney resident who didn't vote for Bojo but I now want to give him a chance. I used to get the Londoner in my apartment building and all the copies used to pile up at the bottom of the stairs, big wate of our money!

Paul Holmes | 14.05.08 - 2:53 p.m. | #

If this was an anti-mayor's office blog, I would have commented on lots of other announcements over the last week and a half. This is the first.

Planting not very many trees is a damned feeble idea, no matter who thought it up.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 14.05.08 - 4:38 p.m. | #

I voted for Ken, and dispared at the idea of Boris, however I'm jolly glad to see The Londoner go. It really irrated me as it was a horrid propaganda sheet.... and I was a supporter.

Chris | 14.05.08 - 5:05 p.m. | #

I could have sworn I saw a contract out for tender a few months ago about doing a survey of open spaces - are these the 40 areas to be 'planted'?
Have you noticed how trees (saplings actually) very rarely survive wanton vandalism when they are placed in streets. To stop this, more mature trees would need to be used - can't see this happening but I can envision loads of 'trees officers' looking for well paid permanent employment with the GLA now.

Bina | 14.05.08 - 6:07 p.m. | #

Actually, what's impressed me most this week has been Boris' pronouncements on knife crime on the back of that poor kid who was killed in Lewisham - even though he wasn't actually killed with a knife. His killer smashed a window and attacked him with the broken glass. I would be very keen to hear Boris explain how mobile weapons scanners and more stop-and-search could have prevented this murder.

SimonC | 14.05.08 - 6:16 p.m. | #

Actually this is one of the few ideas Boris has come up with so far which isn't completely and utterly stupid. The Londoner was really a bit of a waste of time when you can just view it online, and there's nothing wrong at all with planting more trees in London. That's not to say it's the best idea since sliced bread though. There are many many streets and public spaces around the city which could do with more trees, but it's not just about the trees, when we should be looking to try and improve and transform entire street-scapes and urban spaces too. That's the kind of bold vision which I supported Ken for, not this petty and narrow-sighted micropolitics which Boris seems to prefer.

Upon becoming mayor, so far Boris has used his first few days to make such bold, ground-breaking decisions such as:

1. Banning alcohol in public spaces and on public transport
2. Pledging to limit/restrict skyscraper development and modern architecture in the capital
3. Approving a gigantic 200m water treatment plant in Beckton which isn't even needed

Because obviously if there's three things currently plaguing London and holding it back from it's huge potential, then they're

1. People relaxing with a glass of champagne on a nice day in the park
2. Tall buildings of huge architectural merit such as the Shard and the Pinnacle, which will add to London's status as an iconic world city while also supplying much-needed office space to the Square Mile
3. Back-up water facilities just in case we get a sudden heatwave and can't use our hose-pipes again.

DUH! Why didn't I think of this before? Good work Boris, just don't forget to build some new houses while you're busy planting all those trees ok...

Blackstock | 14.05.08 - 6:39 p.m. | #

SimonC - ok, so there's no knife problem in London? Phew, glad you cleared that one up! I haven't seen any pronouncements on the back of the tragic murder in Lee at all. But some misguided people (not you I realise) do think there's a knife problem that needs tackling.

Rob | 14.05.08 - 6:51 p.m. | #

"and a mere 1\\% of what Ken was pledging. I am not impressed"

It really does sound like you're overstating the value of this apparent "pledge" from Ken. I looked through the links you gave and can't see a single fully costed pledge for the delivery of a million trees.

Rob | 14.05.08 - 10:58 p.m. | #

Ken's Environment manifesto, page 15:
"We will establish a new Trees for All scheme to involve communities in reaching target of planting one million new trees"

diamond geezer | Homepage | 14.05.08 - 11:16 p.m. | #

Yes, as I said, I can't see a single fully costed pledge. What does "involve communities in reaching [the] target" mean?

Boris' plan refers to street trees using the budget available to him. It's about making London steetscapes more attractive.

I don't your comparison of the "pledges" as being a valid one.

Rob | 15.05.08 - 10:35 a.m. | #

So you are not enjoying the new low-cholesterol Boris London then?

Debster | 15.05.08 - 10:39 a.m. | #

Rob - did you actually read what SimonC wrote? Doesn't seem like it to me. Perhaps Boris should fund some remedial comprehension classes that you could attend.

Kradlum | Homepage | 15.05.08 - 11:13 a.m. | #

Kradlum - yes, I did read it. He was trying to suggest action this week on knives was somehow in response to a killing which didn't involve a knife. The action this week is in response to the 100 stabbings this year. I haven't seen any pronouncements at all "on the back" of the tragic murder in Lee, as he put it. SimonC asked how stop and search would have stopped a murder with broken glass - Well, it wouldn't and it's not designed to. It's designed to get knives and weapons off the street.

If SimonC's point is that it won't stop every possible method of being able to attack someone, then yes that's true but it's not exactly helpful.

Rob | 15.05.08 - 11:50 a.m. | #

Rob - but what was your point? I can't see it, unless it was just being snide for snideness sake.

Kradlum | Homepage | 15.05.08 - 12:17 p.m. | #

Aren't the aftershock reverberations of political arguments boring? And generally pointless.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 15.05.08 - 1:35 p.m. | #

£600 per tree - looks like Trees for Cities have just won the lottery. Every on eof the 33 london boroughs could be given £45000 every year for the next 4 years - now that would buy some tree planting - as it is my hunch is 60-70 \\% of this 'tree' planting cost will now be spent on the very capable and efficient publicity and marketing consultants used by Trees for Cities to leave BJ basking in vicarious Green-wash

Boo-hoo ! | 16.05.08 - 4:50 p.m. | #

People - if you don't like what DG writes, don't read it. It's a blog, not a public service!

Susie | 16.05.08 - 9:08 p.m. | #

We used to get three or four copies through the door. I am further left than Ken in my politics but I was totally sick of the Mayors propaganda mouthpiece telling me how wonderful he and everything he did was. I will be much happier with trees.

dave bones | Homepage | 17.05.08 - 2:21 p.m. | #











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