Ficus Trees continued: When doing a shift, walking the streets to check on the ficus trees, I felt compelled to take a photo of this magnificent tree on 2nd Street. A passerby commented with a heartfelt "BEAUTIFUL tree!", and looked totally astounded when I said "yes, and they want to cut it down".
This tree is marked by a cross for destruction- reminding one how,in medieval times in London, houses struck with the plague were marked with crosses. Relevantly, the City initially used the word "diseased" to describe trees they wanted to cut down. They had to retract on this and change it to "decayed". And in spite of their independent Arborist declaring that only three trees are possibly decayed beyond treatment, this evening on Channel 4 News, Kate Verney- the City Manager's Assistant- claimed that "23 of the trees are structurally unsound"!
Yesterday, I had to watch a contractor- doing electrical work for the Cities' "beautification" scheme- grinning cheerfully as he hacked through the roots of a neighboring tree, not designated for destruction. However he was not happy when I took a photograph and immediately took one of me and screened off the area to block my view. There are strict guidelines on how work around trees should be carried out- they are not been adhered to.
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