COUNCIL SEEKS TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE BY PLANTING EIGHT TREES - YES, JUST EIGHT!

One tree at a time - council chiefs and parkgoers gather for a planting ceremony. 

Modest - but it's a start.

Eight trees are this autumn being planted in People's Park and  Weelsby Woods as North East Lincolnshire Council supremos seek to demonstrate their eco-friendly credentials.

Says the council: "The trees in People’s Park include a sweet chestnut, copper beech, pin oak and a red-twigged lime. 

"More will be planted later in the year, including cherry trees to replace those that had to be removed.

"The trees in Weelsby Woods include a dawn redwood, common walnut, black walnut and swamp cypress.

"All  were chosen by arboriculturists from the council’s regeneration services partner, Equans, to complement those already there.

"Over their lifetimes, the eight trees are expected to absorb more than 45 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere.

Says council leader Cllr Philip Jackson: "We want to set an ambitious target for the council to be Carbon NetZero by 2040 and for the borough to be Carbon NetZero by 2050."

The Grimsby News says: Just eight trees! How laughably feeble! Back in the year 2000, NELC announced ambitious plans for a Freshney Forest stretching out from Grimsby for miles beyond. Nothing came of it, and every day, locally,  more trees are being felled  than planted. As  result, the borough is one of the most tree-deprived areas in England (slightly behind Boston). NELC should learn lessons from other local authorities, both here and in continental Europe, which have come up with imaginative schemes whereby trees  are being planted at pace, not just in parks (which is an easy option) but also within town and city centres.