There will be many more trees: 85 new pieces , reassures Poznan authorities. - But why cut down 25 existing ones? - residents protest. At issue is a row of hazel trees on December 27 Street. The more than 40-year-old specimens will go under the axe during work on the next stage of downtown street reconstruction.
The issue of cutting down hazel trees gained notoriety when the city announced that it had begun work on the next stage of the so-called Downtown Project. The project includes the revaluation of the main streets of the downtown area: St. Martin, Marcinkowskiego Avenue, Ratajczaka, 27 Grudnia and Gwarna Streets. The project as a whole is being carried out according to the concept of Studio ADS, which won the 2015 competition. A row of hazel trees on 27 Grudnia Street, between Ratajczaka and Gwarna Streets, is to make way for a double row of thirty eastern plane trees (along with richly planted strips of low greenery). Work on 27 Grudnia, Ratajczaka and Gwarna Streets is expected to begin in autumn.
A row of hazel trees to be cut at 27 Grudnia Street in Poznań; view from the intersection with Kantaka Street in the eastern (1) and western (2) directions.
photo: Jakub Głaz
On its website, Poznanskie Inwestycje Miejskie explains the cutting issues as follows:
Due to collisions with underground infrastructure and changes in the geometry of the road, the cutting of 25 Turkish hazel trees, which grow on the south side of the trackbed, is scheduled for 27 Grudnia Street. In addition to them, three trees have been qualified for replanting in Rataje Park [...]. The collisions are significant, involving high-voltage networks, gas networks, combined sewer networks, sewer connections and telecommunications. The specimens whose distance from the utility network indicates the possibility of using a replanting machine, as well as those that have a chance to be accepted in the new location (with smaller trunk circumferences), were qualified for replanting. Analyses also indicated that some of the trees to be removed are in average or poor health.
lame communication
If the concept has been known for so long, and some of the hazel trees indeed look less than ideal, why the protests? The devil is in the details. First - according to the terms of the competition - the competition entry provided detailed solutions for St. Martin. In contrast, the arrangements for the other streets were more general in nature. The final decisions were refined and modified later. Thus, there was a chance that the hazelnut trees would be saved - after corrections to the originally outlined roadway layout and streetcar tracks. Moreover, looking at the competition charts (available, among other things, here), the average observer had no chance to realize that one of the rows of trees at 27 Grudnia Street shows not surviving hazel trees, but brand new trees.
Visualization of 27 Grudnia Street near Okrąglak; visible double row of plane trees, which will replace the existing row of hazel trees
(This is one of only two available visualizations of this stage of the Center Project)
proj: Studio ADS, source: Poznan City Hall
Secondly, for several years now, residents have been much less informed about specific solutions within the Center Project. While the first stage of the redevelopment of St. Martin's was adequately communicated to Poznań residents, the next stages were much worse (we wrote about it here). Suffice it to note that the most recent publications in the gallery on the Center Project website date back more than two years, while new information is scattered across other city services and on the PIM website. The number of communicative maps and visuals depicting the city's intentions is also traceable (only two graphics are available for the latest phase). Recently, after media criticism of the scarcity of such materials, PIM presented a map regarding the trees on December 27 Street. This is progress, but at the same time - the graphic lacks information about the cutting.
information graphic (without indicating the trees that will be removed)
Source: Poznan Municipal Investments
unhooked consultations
There has also been a lack of public consultations in recent years regarding the changes in the city center. Yes, such meetings were held before and during the competition, but that was seven years ago. During this time, a lot has changed: both in the consciousness of residents regarding greenery and climate, and in the surrounding realities. Moreover, the transformation of such a large area should be a continuous process, subject to ongoing review and public scrutiny. Meanwhile, the project, once set in motion and managed by PIM, seems to live its own life without registering external changes. Thus, no attempt has been made to modify the original arrangements to incorporate the existing row of trees within the new development - in keeping with today's view of nature issues in the city.
traction in the crown?
The 40-year-old hazel trees on December 27 Street are not, by the way, the only trees that residents are worried about. On the north side of the street, in front of the Polish Theater, grows a handsome plane tree - planted at the same time, after the demolition of the old tenements (they were to make way for new and never-realized buildings). PIM reassures that:
plane trees growing on the side of the Polish Theater, will be preserved. [...] In addition, on the northern side of the street, it has been proposed to plant three pieces of maple-leaf plane trees to the existing line of trees.
However, as Poznaniator - a Facebook profile critical of the authorities (but often substantive) run by a hitherto anonymous user - pointed out, the trees' luscious crowns will come into collision with the streetcar line's traction, which will be moved to the north side. The trimming of the crowns may upset their stability and the balance between the root system and the rest of the tree.
At the same time, the Freedom Square Association has announced a discussion meeting for Wednesday, July 13 (5:00 pm, 3 27 Grudnia St.) under the slogan "What about the trees?". It is also collecting signatures on a petition for the preservation of hazel trees. It even came to the point that Poznań's PIS councilors signed on to the topic on Tuesday. The concern for trees in representatives of the political option that brought out Minister Szyszko clearly shows that the campaign before the local elections is slowly beginning. Greenery and nature issues may play a big role in it.
