Anger over plans to axe Victorian tree in Metro extension
CITY transport bosses have been blasted over plans to chop down the oldest tree in Birmingham city centre.
The London plane tree on Broad Street, near the Library of Birmingham, is at least 140 years old but has been earmarked for removal as part of the works on the tram line extension to Centenary Square.
The Birmingham Trees for Life group and councillors say the line could easily be run past without disturbing the tree which stands on the pavement in front of the iron fence at the edge of the square.
More than 100 city centre trees have already been uprooted in recent years for the Metro extension and Paradise Circus works and 17 more are lined up for the axe during the Centenary Square works.
The giant London Plane is reckoned to be the last of 99 planted on Broad Street during the great transformation of the city centre under Mayor Joseph Chamberlain and is recorded in the Gardener’s Chronicle in 1876 in an article praising Birmingham as the “one of the first large towns to plant trees in public streets”.
Coun Fiona Williams (Lab Hodge Hill) said: “There is no valid reason for the removal of this tree.
“I have been quoted safety reasons but, as it is nowhere near where the tramline will go, I fail to understand what the safety issue is.”
Geoff Cole, of Birmingham Trees for Life, said it was a disgrace and little wonder the air quality in the City Centre was so poor and getting worse. “It is a man made ecological disaster,” he said. Where are the planners and the people of vision who would value a green city centre with clean air? Not here in Birmingham , that’s for sure.”
A spokesman for Transport for the West Midlands, which is behind the Metro extension, said the removal of the trees would be mitigated by new trees being planted in the revamped Centenary Square. But he added that gas, electric and water mains often make it difficult to replace trees on pavements.