New growth in Vanguard Street

As some of you know, the Tree Committee of Brockley Society is now committed to getting more street trees planted much further afield than the immediate conservation area. To this end we are delighted to announce the planting this spring of 21 new trees in Vanguard Street (St Johns/Deptford) made possible by a collaboration of private and public funding, namely, the proceeds from our hugely successful (and hugely enjoyable) Stone House Concert in November 2015 (see here), and Brockley Assembly grants and Greater London Assembly monies (ie. those made available via the powers of the London Assembly and Mayor of London). 

The intention with this ambitious project is to create a green corridor from Broadway Fields to Tanners Hill and Addey and Stanhope School parallel to the heavily congested and extremely polluted A2. 

We are delighted that the all important task of watering our new trees has been taken on by Peabody Estates who are already out and about following some of the unseasonably warm days we have had in the last week or so. 

These trees are a flowering cherry called prunus avium 'Plena', a variety of our native Wild Cherry which will produce profuse hanging clusters of double white flowers when in full bloom. They will be a spectacular and welcome sight in this generally rather stark urban street scene. 

Loveliest of trees (2)

Spring has sprung in our streets!

Excited sponsors have begun sending in pictures of their precious charges as they begin to flower and show some green. Here are two ornamental cherry trees (prunus accolade) which were planted only last year - and look how well they are doing! These are only two of the 81 trees planted this winter in Lewisham borough. All are due to fund-raising by residents.

One cherry is in Hawstead Road, Rushey Green, and the other in Tressillian Road, Brockley.

We are aware of over 50 people in and around Hawstead Road who want to see more street trees planted and we are working with them and our friends in the area to make that happen.

Please keep your pictures coming and we will, with great joy, post them here on the blog. And please spread the word as it is hard to think of a better way to spend some pounds!

Funding confirmed - a further £18K for street trees!

Brockley Society is thrilled to confirm new funding for street trees in Lewisham. The number of plantings will double due to a grant from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, as part of his plan to increase London's tree cover by 5%. The grant has been awarded to the partnership between Street Trees for Living (Brockley Society's newly rebranded street tree campaign) and Lewisham Council. It is worth £18,000, and will fund an extra 75 street trees. It is hoped even larger amounts will be available in future years. This week members of the campaign have inspected six low tree-cover wards within the borough to identify those streets which will most benefit from the extra tree plantings. Street Trees for Living is extremely grateful to its partners at the council who put the bid together at the end of last year against an extraordinarily tight deadline.

During street surveys it became clear there is tremendous opportunity to green our streets further by planting trees within front gardens of both houses and flats. Street Trees for Living is proposing a pilot scheme under which owners and tenants can purchase and plant subsidised trees in their front gardens. Particular emphasis will be on those streets where pavement planting of trees is problematic due to space, parking or subterranean pipes and cables. To this end Street Trees for Living is asking for an enthusiastic volunteer to help make this unique idea happen. Please contact Dom at trees@brockleysociety.org.uk if you are interested.

Street Trees for Living

Street Trees for Living is the new name for Brockley Society's street tree campaign. We are delighted to report that the total raised since 2012 looks set to be enough to fund 250 street trees - with about half of these already labelled and planted. In the last year alone it raised £18,000. This was from a Brockley Assembly grant, fundraising events and a fantastic 70% from local residents. 

Flowering cherry in a Lewisham street 

All this has allowed us to bid for a similar amount through a scheme offered two months weeks ago by the office of the new Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. His objective is eventually to increase London’s tree cover by 5% (from 20% to 25%). This would be achieved by supporting local communities, businesses and civil society in improvements to neighbourhoods through tree-planting and associated activities. The present bid would fund 75 additional street trees along the streets of Lewisham, many in Brockley ward. There are strong hopes of success. If all goes well, further bids will be possible. 

This activity was part of Brockley Society’s new Street Trees for Living programme, run in partnership with Lewisham Council. The creation of the programme is marked by exciting new projects for the year ahead. These include continued efforts to raise community awareness with the launch of a schools outreach project. The committee would welcome requests from local schools for information talks to students, as well as their participation in the Street Trees for Living logo competition (details to be issued soon).

Street Trees for Living is currently managing several schemes of multiple planting. These will become apparent within Brockley ward in Foxberry Road and Vanguard Street, as well as across the borough. These successes have often been the result of neighbours coming together to develop a planting scheme for their street. If you'd like to discuss the role of tree co-ordinator for your street, or are interested in helping Street Trees for Living in any way, please contact Dom Eliot on trees@brockleysociety.org.uk 

Street Trees for Living

Brockley Society Tree Committee