Comments on The Greenwich Phantom: LOCOG events

The Greenwich Society, Westcombe Society, Blackhea...

2008-11-30T18:51:00.000Z

The Greenwich Society, Westcombe Society, Blackheath Society and Friends of the Royal Parks have all been assured that the pruning of trees will be minimal and will be no more than would happen with normal maintenance anyway. The only reason for pruning will be where there might be small branches not clearly visible in the line of the riders heads. Where there are bigger branches in the way the route is being diverted. The two people responsible for designing the cross country course have been round the park with an arboriculturalist who will be on board throughout the set up period. They have also undertaken to ensure that any tree work is carried out at the best time of year for the tree.

I absolutely agree that comparisons with HK are at...

2008-11-22T11:39:00.000Z

I absolutely agree that comparisons with HK are at best misleading and I did not intend to give credence to such comparisons.
The point was that the LOCOG rep showed me the photo to make me believe that no pruning should be neccessary.
Obviously minor pruning of "non-heritage" trees isn't neccessarily a problem (I think that already happens) but heavy pruning of ancient or rare trees is very much a matter of concern.

There are lots of reasons why comparisons with the...

2008-11-22T11:03:00.000Z

There are lots of reasons why comparisons with the x-country course at Hong Kong are completely spurious: eg different species of grass, different (high) temperatures, different (very high) humidity, private golf course not the finest Baroque landscape in England within a World Heritage Site; trees WERE cut down on the Hong Kong course but they were not, as with Greenwich Park, either very ancient, very large or important (eg the shagbark hickory, the cedars, the tulip trees).

In Hong Kong, the specially dug-out and turfed (with zoysia) "footing" on the x-country course did get churned up but armies of volunteers - or, possibly, the Chinese army - turned out in pouring rain at night to fix the holes.

"Well, Rod, I don't know who you talked to but one...

2008-11-22T09:34:00.000Z

"Well, Rod, I don't know who you talked to but one visitor was told by three different (LOCOG, Royal Parks, etc) representatives this afternoon that the lower branches of ALL THE TREES will have to be cut."

Wow - I'm shocked. This directly contradicts what I was told. The lady from LOCOG showed me photos from Hong Kong where there was a couple of jumps near a large mature tree with low-hanging branches, making the point that jumps can, and, she said, will, be placed so as not to neccessitate heavy pruning.
I think this is really disturbing, as removing lower limbs of old trees can, as I understand it, constitute major surgery and be very damaging. The lower limbs being the largest, oldest, most central.
I can't go up there again today, but please get up there if you can and ask pointed questions. Very pointed questions.

To JJ, how can Greenwich Council give permission ...

2008-11-21T21:42:00.000Z

To JJ, how can Greenwich Council give permission for the Olympics to be held there? Surely it is nothing to do with them!

I don't know the answer to this but the Parks Manager has gone over to the Dark Side (see today's entry on the Save Greenwich Park blog), and LOCOG sounds pretty desperate. I mean, LOCOG might be able to get the public to agree to what they want by lying to IOC about the real size of the Park, and to the public about the impact on the landscape and their lives, but the risk is that LOCOG will be found out in its duplicity - and that is what is starting to happen. Death throes of "Cool Britannia". And about time, too.

Well, Rod, I don't know who you talked to but one ...

2008-11-21T21:35:00.000Z

Well, Rod, I don't know who you talked to but one visitor was told by three different (LOCOG, Royal Parks, etc) representatives this afternoon that the lower branches of ALL THE TREES will have to be cut.

If anyone reading this is going to the second day of the exhibition at the Pavilion Tea Rooms tomorrow, 10.00am to 4.00pm, there are some questions here

Questons for LOCOG
that you might like to ask. Do let us know what kind of answers you get.

Do you know the answer to my problem?Greenwich Par...

2008-11-21T19:43:00.000Z

Do you know the answer to my problem?

Greenwich Park, is a Royal park. Therefore, how can Greenwich Council give permission for the Olympics to be held there? Surely it is nothing to do with them!

The park is run, as far as I know by 'The Royal Parks' http://www.royalparks.org.uk/.

Anything you can find out will be much appreciated.
And if it will help keep Greenwich Park an Olympic free zone, so much the better.

Anonymous - I guess that's fair comment,and there ...

2008-11-21T14:53:00.000Z

Anonymous - I guess that's fair comment,and there were quite a few people there. It didn't rain after all, which probably helped.
It was a re-run of the car free day exercise really - I got to talk to someone from the LOCOG and Nick Raynsford, and made them promise that NO trees would be damaged. I keep making them say this because I think that the more they have to say this in public the better.
It was an opportunity to talk to someone and raise issues - Nick Raynsford said that he was pushing very hard to facilitate as many people as possible coming to the events by river, which is good - but there was no means of recording your opinion. So not really what I understand as a consultation.

rod...having a consultation about the park actualy...

2008-11-21T09:28:00.000Z

rod...having a consultation about the park actualy in the park itself seems quite logical? the people likely to trudge up there are the people who actually use the park, and are likely to be the ones who are most affected by closures etc..

Oh, yes - of course! I did say pubs were more my s...

2008-11-21T08:41:00.000Z

Oh, yes - of course! I did say pubs were more my sort of thing.
I should have thought that if you genuinely wanted to get local people involved somewhere in the Town Centre would have been better - how many people are going to trudge up to the top of the park on a cold and rainy day?
I shall make every effort, as, by chance, I'm not working today, and I'll report back.

Rod - you mean you DON'T hang on my every word? ;-...

2008-11-21T08:25:00.000Z

Rod - you mean you DON'T hang on my every word? ;-)

I guess I did write about them a long time ago they're right in the middle of the park, up by the Observatory. I daresay LoCOg intends to dig a ditch around them and turn them into the water jump...

The Olympics "horse infrastructure" will not fit i...

2008-11-20T22:52:00.000Z

The Olympics "horse infrastructure" will not fit in the Park. Story. End of.

Sorry to betray local ignorance, but pubs are more...

2008-11-20T22:02:00.000Z

Sorry to betray local ignorance, but pubs are more my thing :-}
Where are the Pavilion Tearooms?

Hi Phantom - the LOCOG stuff tomorrow and Saturday...

2008-11-20T17:11:00.000Z

Hi Phantom - the LOCOG stuff tomorrow and Saturday is from 10am - 4pm.