Reply To: The Greens and O Connell Street

Arrrgh – it can be so difficult at times to get a clear arguement across.
I mentioned the case for retention of the older trees simply to register my dissatisfaction with what has gone in to date on the median – the fact that the CC were saying what was proposed would be superior to to the existing trees.
I still genuinely think the trees should be chopped – as exactly as I said before, and as you say Devin, to axe them is difficult but necessary.
I did indeed laud the arrival of the limes (as I recall it was the upper plaza trees) and still think they look great. That is the plaza trees, not the median ones.

I also agree with every word Paul says about the lower trees, they were ridculously large, and not only were they planted in parallel rows, they were actually tripled over, with the 40/50s trees in the middle, and a row of spindlies from the 80s job either side! And their size not only blocked nearly all views of the other half of the street, they also began to loom over the street like a dark cloud.

However, what they did contribute was an identity for O’ Cll St. From a distance, and on the street itself, you could see them stretching into the distance, you could appreciate the grand length of the thoroughfare. And developing your point Devin, every child in the city knew these trees from the effect generated and the ‘importance’ of the median, with facinating glances of stone statues hidden amongst the foliage.

I viewed the plans for the street as an opportunity to remove the existing mess, and start from scratch, reinserting the boulevard effect on a managable scale and in a more effective way, not to mention in a contemporary fashion – involving replanting trees in line of what was once there, ie along the median.
We do not have this now by any means, and the idea of the grand effect of the upper trees being replaced with a couple of clusters of 6 trees and bike parks I think is terrible.

One need only look at the area outside Easons, where the plaza simply runs into the rest of the median, save two limes. There are no new trees here, it is just a bland plazafied area now, similar to other areas.
Either way the upper trees have to go, they can’t be left stranded, further contributing to the lack of the ‘boulevard effect’.

I just think what is going to replace these 101 year old trees is a slap in the face to their age and history.