CollingwoodToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected] or via the website. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letter was sent in response to the Town of Collingwood's plans for the reconstruction of Sixth Street.
I was astonished to read in Collingwood Today that council has (albeit begrudgingly) approved the removal of 36 mature trees as part of the Sixth Street reconstruction.
When a colleague first mentioned this to me several weeks ago, I didn't believe it possible. I thought, surely this couldn't be approved.
As a cyclist, a pedestrian, a driver and a PhD in Ecology, I would most certainly choose the trees over any sort of bike lanes.
Indeed, the existing bike lanes, though not perfect, suffice and small but effective improvements could be made without sacrificing the trees. Some sort of compromise must be possible.
Mature trees provide shade, temperature regulation, habitat, psychological benefits, and once they are gone, they are gone.
I've linked to just one of many studies that show this.
Mature trees take years and years to be replaced. A sapling is not the same as a towering Silver Maple.
We are already losing so many of our trees to the increasingly violent climate-change-driven storms. We don't need to exacerbate the problem.
I urge the council to reconsider.
Deborah Buehler
Collingwood, Ont.
