OHSCA

Trees


trees
Trees on Old Dover Rd
Working to conserve and improve our leafy suburbs

The preservation and development of the wonderful stock of trees in our area is a vitally important part of the Society’s work and central to our aim of ensuring a pleasant and healthy environment for ourselves and future generations to enjoy.


We take every opportunity through our newsletters, press releases and comments on consultation documents to raise wider community awareness of the proven health and environmental benefits of tree planting in residential and and urban areas. Examples are our responses to the recent Local Plan, Transport and Open Space consultation documents issued by the City Council.


Complementary to this active encouragement of additional and imaginative tree planting we are very keen to stimulate the introduction of small scale environmental innovation projects (such as green roofs, walls ) both within Oaten Hill and the city centre. We are beginning to form some potentially very interesting links with local colleges which are developing a range of forward thinking ideas which bode well for the future.


We vet all planning applications submitted to the city council from our area and are particularly watchful for the implications for the trees on site of proposed new developments. Our policy is that if a tree has to be felled we would want to encourage the owner/developer to plant at least two replacements elsewhere on the site. This process also includes scrutinising applications for works relating to the trees covered by formal protection orders (TPOs) and regularly checking the list of non-TPO tree works on the Council website for properties in those parts of our district which are designated conservation areas. Finally and most importantly we plant trees in small communal areas and along the roadside!!!


We have a dedicated tree budget for which contributions to our Treasurer are always welcome. In the last four years with the active cooperation of Kent Highways for which we are most grateful we have secured the planting of 25 new trees in areas such as Upper Chantry Lane, St Lawrence Road, New Dover Road and South Canterbury Road. We can’t always plant the new trees exactly where we would like because of the plethora these days of underground cables and pipes but thankfully the local authorities are as helpful as safety allows. One other stipulation about our new planting sites is that residents living nearby are kindly asked to ensure that in years one and two the new trees receive the extra water they need to help get them established.

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Red Leaf Hazel planted on February 10th 2022 in Puckle Lane

Magnolia Tree in Lichfield Avenue planted by OHSCA about 10 years ago
Magnolia Tree in Lichfield Avenue planted by OHSCA about 10 years ago
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Nickie Young planting evergreen Holm oak for OHDS in Upper Chantry Lane - 1998
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. . and it's still growing March 2017!