By Staff
August 15th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
A Smith street resident wants to know why the City slaughtering hordes of trees all along the bike path? How can the City and council continue to brag about the tree canopy when they are out there destroying it daily?
The bike/pedestrian path from Martha all the way east has been the site of daily closures all summer while trees are cut down. Meanwhile, I can’t cut one tree down on my private property with obtaining a permit and paying the city thousands of dollars, despite the fact that I have planted 15 trees on my property over the years at my expense, all of which are still standing and which I take care of and maintain.
No reason given for this tree culling.
Developers cut down an entire forest of trees at Martha St. and James to build a condo, despite the fact they aren’t building where the trees were, right along the creek. The same thing was done on Martha by the creek this summer. But the desecration of the beautiful tree canopy all along the bike/pedestrian path is disgraceful.
Nothing to suggest these trees were diseased.
And any excuse about hydro wires and power failures doesn’t cut it, if that’s the excuse. Tall trees actually protect the wires because they protect them from high winds. Who told me that? An arborist out on the path. Planning on burying the wires in the next decade and beyond would be a good investment. But cutting them all down now is faster and who cares about the future? Regardless, completing cutting down this huge number of trees is lazy and irresponsible, not to mention hypocritical.
Trees produce oxygen, clean the air and reduce air pollution. They store carbon and carbon dioxide. They reduce the heat island effect and reduce the temperature in cities, helping cities and its residents adapt to climate change.
Trees protect against flooding – a single, mature leafy tree can absorb up to 450 litres of water through its roots every day, as well as capture rain water on its leaves. Their roots reduce soil erosion in the ground and slow the filtration of water into our drainage networks. What can help stop the hazards of sudden flash flooding? Mature trees. They improve water filtration, store water and reduce stormwater runoff. Urban trees promote physical activity, mental well-being and reduce stress, heart rate, asthma and many other ailments. I have sources for this data, if you’re interested in it. How can the City cut down this many trees while declaring a climate emergency which you tout when it suits you and ignore when it doesn’t?
And how much is it costing to hire these private companies to cut down all these trees?
Pictures tell the story.
This just a small portion, between Smith and Seneca, and some photos between Smith and Martha – they were still out hacking more trees there when I took the photos. They had finished that section weeks ago, then came back to chop down more.
Was the clearing done in this area due to the creek?
Nothing on the city web site on this clearing. The resident makes several very good questions – getting answers during the summer isn’t going to be easy.
Update: now Davey Tree is hacking away and destroying the tree canopy on residential streets, just as Robert Whittaker describes here. The tree canopy is being destroyed. At the mayor’s budget dog and pony show last week in Roseland she spoke about the beautiful tree canopy. Well it won’t be around for long, between them hacking the branches in a manner which seems that speed is the goal, rather than careful pruning to protect the tree health and canopy, we won’t have a canopy on our streets, just like we don’t have one on the pathway anymore. But residents: don’t you dare touch any tree on your property. You’ll be fined.
Pruning? Scorched earth is more like it. A city jewel of tranquility destroyed. Who made this decision and was the city part of the decision. Mayor’s newsletter reported pruning on the path ?
Scorched earth in my book. Odd that Davies spend considerable time hacking at our front yard Maple with no rhyme or reason – they cut the street side core out and basically weakened it. The path, one of the city’s jewels of tranquility destroyed. The trees could have been culled and or trimmed. If memory serves me, COB was crowing last year about beautifying the path? Who owns the path ? Is it Trans Canada ? We need names and reasons.
Editor’s note: Davey is the name of the arbourists that did the work for the city.
As I have been informed by someone of knowledge on the issue, COB may not have been the authority that pulled a Paul Bunyan on these trees. Regardless of which authority decided to do this I can only ask, why now? Based on the size of the trunks, the trees have been there for decades. As to the tree by-law as I view the city canopy from 20 story’s, the bylaw was intrusive and overkill.
I spoke with a Davey operator. He stated it was a “joint” operation.
It seems the leadership of our elected officials is lacking any comprehension of the rules or objectives they create for the tree canopy or they are blind to what staff is deciding in the city. Time for some real accountability and open forums with the tax payers especially the ones who live in the affected areas. We see this continued waste of tax dollars while we experience record tax increases with little concern for the citizens of the city.
These pictures are shocking and appalling! Whoever authorized this work should be required to provide a detailed justification for these actions.
I thought the City of Burlington supported environmental sustainability and the preservation of the tree canopy? I guess not…
Totally agree Lynn! We received a flyer early in the summer warning of a few weeks of pruning and now this. It’s been all summer! Now they are right back at the Martha St. ravine as you point out and hacking everything in sight – was shocked to see this on my walk today. This is a short-sighted solution to the multiple hydro outages we’ve endured this year due to failing infrastructure. Pruning vs. hacking down the entire neighbourhood -quite a difference in execution.
This was taken from my letter. Thank you Pepper for posting it. Sorry for my typos. I sent it to Councillor Kearns and Deputy Mayor of Environment Nisan. I have found in the past that when sending an email to all of council, you get a useless letter from someone in the mayor’s office which doesn’t address the specific issues and nobody else says anything. I will separately send it to the mayor’s office, however. Power outages is the reason being given by the crew. Totally unacceptable and so against everything that this council and mayor pretend to stand for. We need more trees, not fewer. We need mature trees protected, not hacked down.
I can add that they are back today cutting more and that I also heard from a different arborist yesterday that the city also has been cutting down scores of walnut trees in parks and elsewhere because they’re “messy”. I am quite sure a homeowner would not get approval from the city to remove a private tree because it’s messy. I also saw last night that we now have a pesticide warning sign on the path, noting “stumps”.
The next time you hear our council or mayor bragging about the tree canopy, defending the tree bylaw which doesn’t stop developers from clear cutting but instead causes huge headaches and expense for homeowners, claiming to be working hard to prevent flooding and protect the environment, ask them why their actions never match their words and why they don’t ever look at the big picture.
Thanks Lynn for reporting on this sad state of affairs.
Lynn,
That also my experience of sending email to all Councillors.
In this they chose to follow the Municipal Act which requires them to adhere to the Code of Conduct they must pass. In Burlington the Code of Conduct is euphemistically called ” The Code of Good Governance”.
Ethical conduct is a necessary but not sufficient condition for Good Government.
What does this Council stand for – what are the consistent and cohesive actions that give it an identity and define its character? Is it fiscal responsibility – not if you ask the average taxpayer; is it open and engaged government – without even a staff listing, surely not; is it sensitivity to climate issues – not beyond platitudes and meaningless pronouncements of ‘climate emergency’; is it transparency of decision-making – not if Bateman and wave breaks are any example; is it collaboration and governance best practices – well, Strong Mayor powers and a litany of Integrity Commissioner investigations would argue otherwise; is it a vision of what Burlington should become – not in any sense that adds value to the dictates mandated by higher levels of government? What does this group of seven very influential people consider to be their legacy? It is extremely difficult to articulate. Indeed, this Council is best characterized by ad hoc decisions that frequently conflict with their expressed strategic directions and that whipsaw the citizen between ideological pillar and post. This Council is not just poor in its practices, procedural wranglings often consuming valuable discussion time and obscuring issues, it is incoherent.
AMEN!!!
This is unbelievable! The Bike Path will never be the same without these trees and the canopy. You don’t cut down trees unless they are diseased and a hazard which they were Not!! These were Maples and Walnuts (not diseased Ash).
You do not cut down trees for Hydro wires either! You trim the branches that get in the way of the Hydro Lines.
Our Mayor and City Council are on the hook for yet another Disaster in the City we call home!
When will it ever end???
It’s tragic and for what reason??? We need trees, this is a disaster.
I cycle the Centennial path three times a week. It is awful sight particularly galling when you roll this into a discussion about the tree bylaw which is frankly a huge, big brother overreach that needs to be modified or repealed.