Hammersmith gets horticultural


Chance to apply for a tree in your street

Tree-hugging Hammersmith residents can apply to have saplings planted in their road or outside their place of work.

London Mayor Boris Johnson has identified Hammersmith and Fulham as one of 40 'priority areas' that would

most benefit from extra street trees.

The Mayor of London aims to plant 100-400 trees in each of the 40 priority areas. He claims that tree

planting will create 'social, economic and environmental improvements'.

A panel, chaired by the charity Trees for Cities, identified an area of Hammersmith and Fulham bordered by Cambridge Grove, Hammersmith Flyover, Hammersmith Bridge Road, Chancellors Road, Hammersmith Cemetery, Avonmore and Lillie Road as a priority area.

All the Priority Areas will have new street trees planted by the end of the four-year Mayoral term.

People living and working within the 40 Priority Areas can register their interest in having a tree outside

their home or place of work.

This information will then be passed on to boroughs and other organisations who will apply for funding to from the Mayor's Street Tree programme.

It will not always possible to plant street trees where interest has been registered  but the Mayor expects those applying for grants to accommodate as many requests for trees as possible.

The Mayor’s Street Trees programme is an expansion of the Forestry Commission's London Tree and Woodland Grant Scheme and will run for four years. Residents’ groups, community organisations, charities and boroughs can apply for the grants.

 

Anyone who is thinking about applying can contact the London Tree and Woodland Grant Scheme Programmes Officer - email londonprogrammes@groundwork.org.uk or telephone 020 7922 1230.

Useful advice for individuals on how to assess the suitability of your street for tree planting and what to do next is in Trees for Cities' Best Practice - Street Trees guide. You can find the contact details of your borough tree officer on the London Tree Officers Association website.

 

May 7, 2009