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The protected lime trees in Thorvald Meyers gate have been cut down. What's happening?
By Anders Høilund 15. September 2019 00:16
The linden trees (also called lime trees or Tilia) in Thorvald Meyers street, from Nybrua to Olaf Ryes plaza, are history. The annual rings on the 70-80 cm high stumps show that the trees were 20-30 years old.
"I often pass by here, and suddenly one day the trees were gone. I thought, oh my God, what happened. I had previously read in the zoning plan that these trees were to be preserved", says Tom Ole Bergerud.
Bergerud understands that if the trees were sick, it was right to fell them. But the stumps tell a different story--that these were mostly healthy trees.
The stumps left behind after the trees came down are dry and fine and show that the trees were healthy and had a steady growth.
"I understand that sick trees must be felled, but all these trees did not become sick all at one time. The stumps left behind look mostly fine. If the reason for felling them is that the trees interfered with the power lines, then any new trees will do so as well" says Bergerud.
The Thorvald Meyers street zoning plan states that trees to be preserved are marked on the zoning map as 'not allowed to be removed' unless there is documented disease or significant damage to the trees. The lime trees that were felled were marked as preservation-worthy.
The lime trees in Thorvald Meyers street were felled one recent September evening. "The trees that were felled will be replaced by new trees in the spring and autumn of 2020. We will plant cherry trees that have a beautiful pink bloom in the spring. There are no plans for more trees to be felled now", writes Hilde Elisabeth Håve in the Urban Environmental Agency.
Assessment of tree health was carried out by an arborist in the urban environmental agency. There are also requirements in the zoning plan for independent control of the arborist's assessment. This is done by AB Trepleie AS, according to Håve.
“The trees that were felled had poor growth conditions and were characterized by disease. The Urban Environmental Agency applied for an exemption from the regulations, which was granted because the trees' health was so poor, and because it would facilitate the planting of healthy trees in the future. Exemptions from regulatory plans in Oslo are handled by the Planning and Building Agency, Håve writes to Vårt Oslo.
"The trees that stood here were lime. They are easy to prune. Cherry trees are also fine, but why switch to that tree species? I would like to know the reason for that" says Bergerud.
Håve explains that cherry trees were chosen because the municipality has good experience with these trees in streets with limited space, as they are significantly smaller than lime trees.
"Since we had to replace the trees anyway, it was desirable to replace them with smaller trees that are easier to maintain. We do not see that the regulations provide any guidance for species selection or that this is something to be exempted from. The Urban Environmental Agency does not specify that one specific species should be planted or that it must protect those that stand there already, rather, the overall aim of the regulations is that there should be trees in the designated locations" she writes.
One of the reasons the lime trees had to be felled was that they became too large for the pavements in Grünerløkka despite sub-optimal growth conditions. They had grown out to the tram line, and at the same time came too close to house walls, according to Håve in the Urban Environmental Agency.
Tom Ole Bergerud thinks the upgrade of Thorvald Meyers street is commendable, but that the trees could have been kept.
"New trees need time to grow big, which of course will not happen for many years" he says.
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