11/4/2008

Local News in Fleet

Bollards to protect roots of old oaks

Some of the parked cars damaging tree roots in Calthorpe Park.

Action is finally being taken to stop trees being damaged by parked cars.

Work on placing a series of bollards along the entrance to Calthorpe Park in Fleet will start on Monday April 21.

The bollards will be installed from the park entrance on Reading Road North right down to the tennis courts in order to protect the roots of a line of mature trees.

Hart District Council is taking the action to stop cars constantly parking in the area.

The council believes that the majority of people who leave their cars there are not using Calthorpe Park, but work in or are visiting the nearby town centre and using it as a way of avoiding paying for town centre parking.

As a result, earth around the trees is being compacted and many are showing signs of stress.

The main entrance to the park will be closed while the new bollards are being installed.

Work is expected to last about two weeks, and the new parking restrictions will come into force on May 1.

Improvements to the park’s sports pitches will take place over the summer, and further parking restrictions will be implemented.

Parking spaces for the disabled will be located within the popular park.

But plans for a new 50-space car park have been shelved.

The council wanted to introduce the spaces to further deter people from leaving their cars at the entrance to the park.

But the scheme caused a storm of protest among people living nearby.

They were concerned that the council wanted to chop down six trees to make way for the new car park.

One resident said: “Cal-thorpe Park is a precious green space. The thought of it being concreted over is horrifying and the loss of beautiful trees is disastrous.”

The council has decided to drop the plan due to land ownership issues and the level of concern from local people.

But it expects that in the future the entrance to Calthorpe Park will be redesigned to better accommodate cyclists and pedestrians, resulting in even fewer car movements.

The council is now urging people who currently park along the entrance to use the public car parks in Fleet.

The news has delighted Cllr Richard Appleton, whose Fleet West ward covers the park.

He said he had correspondence from residents going back 15 years on the subject.

Cllr Appleton warned: “The compaction of the soil from cars parking there is killing the trees — and these are very significant large oak trees, not small silver birches.

“Some of them have lost many branches and are in a very sorry state.”

Cllr Appleton said that as well as bollards being installed, the soil around the trees would be aerated and decompacted.

He added: “Given that the council requires residents to properly manage trees protected by tree preservation orders, it is very poor that it has taken it so long to sort this problem out.

“I would like to thank Geoff Bonner, the new chief executive, for helping me get it resolved and I hope that the trees will now recover.”

Residents are also delighted with the move. One, who lives in nearby Tavistock Road, said: “After 15 years of promises the council is at last taking action to protect the trees.

“In that time, one has died and another is suffering badly.

“Many of the cars that use Calthorpe Park have permits for the Church Road car park so people are parking there due to laziness, not to save money.”

First printed in: Fleet News and Mail