Tree row ‘Spat’ criticised over school pruning plan
Former commando-turned-childminder Neil Sinclair gives tips on teaching kids to cook and eat healthily. LISA SALMON reports
ABRISTOL councillor has blamed an “ongoing spat” between a school and residents for “wasting council taxpayers’ money” in a dispute over the pruning of a tree.
Cotham School and residents in Stoke Lodge have been battling over the school’s use of the playing fields for almost a decade.
In the latest row to erupt in City Hall, residents opposed Cotham School’s application to prune a protected ash tree, saying the “butchering” would leave it looking like a “lollipop”.
The 18m tree is estimated to be around 70 to 100 years old and stands next to a derelict sports pavilion on the northern boundary of the Stoke Lodge playing fields.
The school, which is about to begin the refurbishment of the pavilion, applied to prune several branches of the mature tree, as is its right under common law.
Pruning applications are almost always decided by council officers, but a flood of objections from residents prompted Stoke Bishop councillor John Goulandris to call this one to a planning committee.
Committee members decided to allow the pruning work to go ahead, in line with the council tree officer’s conclusion it was “necessary, reasonable and will enhance the health and balance of the tree”.
Before voting, Labour councillor Ollie Mead said: “It does feel like, yet again, planning committee has been dragged into the ongoing spat between Cotham School and local residents at Stoke Lodge.”
The committee heard the plans to remove one branch that was rubbing against the pavilion tower, several more than would do the same in several years, and some on the other side of the tree for “balance”.
But residents, the Bristol Tree Forum and Cllr Goulandris argued that only one branch should be removed – the one with a wound from rubbing against the tower.
They said the rest of the work was “unnecessary”, “undesirable” and could lead to the death of the tree, either through stress or a disease called ash dieback.
Helen Powell said the school had “refused” to compromise by agreeing to remove just one branch.
Emma Burgess said: “Butchering a protected tree so it looks like a lollipop just simply isn’t required, so why do it?”
But a planning officer said it was better for the long-term health of the tree to do all the pruning in one go than to keep going back every two or three years to remove each branch as it became necessary. He said it was “very unlikely” the tree would die as a result of the pruning.
Sandra Fryer, chair of governors at Cotham School, said the works were needed to protect the safety of students, sports club users and local people who use the playing fields and the adjoining footpath.
Hamish Beeston, who said he was among 175 people who signed a letter of support for the pruning application, said the school needed its pavilion back so “our kids have shelter and changing facilities”.
There were 99 objections to the application, including from the Bristol Tree Forum, and six letters of support.
Conservative councillor Richard Eddy said he thought the pruning plan was “very severe” and voted against the application.
But Cllr Mead said: “I’ve never sat through a planning committee, and it’s my seventh year, where we’ve discussed endlessly the pruning of a few branches from a tree. It’s not butchery, nor would it look like a lollipop, and anyone who bothered to look at the photo
graphs during the officer’s presentation will see that that is the case.
“I just think that rather than wasting our time and the officer’s time and a lot of council taxpayers’ money we could do a simple job that will not in any way harm the tree.”
Members of the Bristol City Council planning committee voted seven to one in favour of permitting the application.
MANY dads are a relaxed dab hand in the kitchen – but others are unfamiliar with the territory, especially if they want to involve their kids in a cooking mission.
So Commando Dad Neil Sinclair has marched in to give other dads (and the rest of the family) a military-style helping hand on the cooking front, with his new book Commando Dad: The Cookbook.
Neil is a former commando who, after clearing minefields in Iraq and tracking drug traffickers in the jungles of Belize, embarked on a radically different career when he trained as a childminder and became a stay-at-home dad to his three children while his wife, Tara, worked.
“I’ve been a Royal Engineer Commando, PE teacher, security guard at the UK Mission to the UN in New York and a PCSO in the Metropolitan Police,” he says, “but by far the most demanding job to date is as stay-at-home dad to my three kids.”
As well as looking after his children – Samuel, who is now 18, Jude, 17, and Liberty, 14 – Sinclair has written the Commando Dad series of books, which treat parenting as a military exercise, refer to the kids as ‘troopers’ and describe each acquired skill, from changing nappies and potty training, to preparing food, as a ‘mission’.
Neil’s latest sortie, The Cookbook, teaches dads and their young troopers basic culinary skills like mashing, sifting and kneading (with Mission Accomplished certificates at the end of each one), and gives smart food shopping tips, before including recipes ranging from the basics, like tomato sauces and biscuits, meals in minutes like omelette and prawn stir-fry, and hearty crowdpleasing classics including roast beef and corned beef hash.
But does he follow his own advice and cook for his family?
“I do a fair bit of cooking at home,” he says. “I took the opportunity during lockdown to perfect my bread-making skills. However, if you ask other family members, it’s still a
work in progress...”
Here Neil gives his military-style tips for dads preparing food with their young troopers in the cookhouse...
Lead by example
WANT your troopers to eat healthy nutritious foods? Then you need to do the same. It’s never too early to start building good eating habits for your troopers, or too late to start improving your own.
Once the food’s been prepared, always aim to sit down as a unit and enjoy it together. That way you can enjoy the food and each other’s company, while providing a perfect opportunity to demonstrate good table manners.
Allow time for culinary sorties
YOU’LL always need more time than you think, so don’t embark on a cooking sortie when you’re against the clock to get something on the table.
Haven’t we all found cooking something new always takes a lot longer than the recipe suggests? It’s because we’re not familiar with the process and have to take it one slow step at a time. Now imagine that and it also being the first time you’ve held a potato peeler, let alone used one.
As a rule of thumb, I always double the amount of time and see how I get on. Remember if you get dinner cooked early (unlikely), it can always be heated up later.
Cooking requires planning
PLANNING and preparation prevents poor parental performance, so make sure you know what everyone’s doing (there are plenty of jobs for everyone, from measuring to stirring the pot and everything in between), and that all the ingredients and equipment are readily accessible. Then expect, and ideally embrace, the inevitable spills, mess and slip-ups.
The mission is for you and your
troops to work together in high spirits and have an edible meal at the end of it. Nothing will ruin the mission quicker than a Commando Dad getting stressed and the troops will be less likely to follow you into battle next time. So take a deep breath and remember that, long after you’ve forgotten the cleaning up you’ll remember the fun you had cooking together.
Encourage troopers’ curiosity
THIS isn’t just about teaching kids the basics, such as mixing, mashing, scrubbing and cutting, fun though it is, but also allowing them to use their senses to engage with the whole experience.
With your permission, let them taste, touch, smell, and talk to you about how food looks and how it sounds (oh yes, your troopers are going to take food to another dimension – food you may previously have thought of as silent will suddenly be ‘squeaky’, ‘snappy’ or ‘squelchy’, for example).
The ‘permission’ element is key – your troopers must know they need to ask, or be invited by you, to taste food while preparing it. I’ve always found a trooper that’s helped to prepare food in this way will at least try it when it’s cooked.
Cooking missions can be dangerous
THE cookhouse is a potentially dangerous environment and when it comes to safety, there’s no substitute for your close supervision. Don’t think this only applies to sharps or heat; I learned this lesson early when my son slipped on a teaspoon he’d dropped on the floor a few seconds earlier, and I hadn’t picked up.
It’s also important to dress for the job: aprons will keep troopers’ clothes clean (and they’ll love to wear them), tie back any long hair, don’t allow any loose clothing, roll up loose sleeves, and make sure feet are protected with sensible footwear.
Good hand hygiene is a must
WASH your hands properly. We now know more than we ever thought we’d need to about the proper way to wash our hands and we must use that same thoroughness before and after handling food (especially meat, fish, eggs, fruit and vegetables).
This, together with cooking and storing food properly will help prevent food poisoning and any subsequent negligent discharges from you or your troops.
■ Commando Dad: The Cookbook – Easy Recipes for Busy Dads by Neil Sinclair is published by Vie Books, priced £10.99. Available now.