Michael Moynihan: I was wrong — but Cork City Council still hasn’t explained the missing green space
The old fire brigade substation in Blackpool where the small green area has been concreted over. Photo: Michael Moynihan
Well, that told me.
Last Thursday I wrote here about the green space in front of the old Cork Fire Brigade substation in Blackpool, which recently had all of that greenery removed and turned into a concrete space. Tree cut down and chopped up, turf taken up — grass, weeds, and flowers all transported away.
Cue a swift response from Cork City Council (CCC), and look, I have to hold my hands up. They were right. I was wrong. What was I thinking? I’m not above acknowledging when I’m not on the money, and I certainly didn’t get it right here.
In the statement released by the council across social media platforms they said they wanted to: "Address suggestions in the media and online today that the recent removal of a tree at a former fire substation site on Watercourse Road in Blackpool was an example of the city council ‘getting rid of trees and green spaces and bringing the concrete.’ Such claims are entirely unfounded and do not reflect the rigorous processes the local authority follows."
What can I do only suck it up?
Well, point out that "recent removal of a tree" doesn’t address the removal of the green space — maybe three metres by 12 metres — which has vanished but isn’t mentioned in the statement for some strange reason.
And point out that claims the council is "getting rid of trees and green spaces and bringing the concrete" is not an unfounded claim but a statement of fact.
Let me make that really simple: there were green spaces and a tree in front of the building. Now there is concrete in front of the building instead. That means the trees and green space have been removed because Cork City Council have been bringing the concrete.
Can I be any clearer?
If you encountered the statement on social media you may have noted that I also got it wrong going by the accompanying photograph, which shows a chap planting a strong young tree, the definition of green activity, the vote of confidence a progressive local authority shows in its community.
Sadly this is not a representation of the reality in Blackpool. I checked again because I wanted to be sure and yes, the photograph I took shows the truth: a bleak vista of concrete and metal mesh, with a forlorn pile of logs against a wall. The statement on social media doesn’t show a digger churning up the grass or the tree being chopped up.
Why Cork City Council didn’t use those kinds of photographs to show the reality of what they’ve done in Blackpool, I don’t know. Small oversight.
The CCC statement adds:
Recent storms had caused the tree to begin lifting, and it had started to lean toward nearby residential properties, posing a potential risk to the general public, private property, and council staff. The council's cleansing section removed the tree on health and safety grounds.
Sadly, this raises more questions. Not just about the ‘cleansing section’, which may have to be renamed 'Plant ICE' based on this event, but about matters so obvious that they almost ask themselves.
If the tree was unsafe could it not be saved? Could it not just have been replaced? And finally, no matter how unsafe this tree was, why did the entire green area have to be removed?
The more we hear about this tree it sounds less like a threat to health and safety and more like the central villain in a Marvel movie.
NOBODY really needs to point out the other obvious points here. At least they shouldn’t have to.
They don’t need to point out that this part of the city is not treated as well as others. The day after Cork City Council were trying to depict this lone tree on the Watercourse Road as a threat to humanity I saw, by a striking coincidence, a post on social media from Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral:
Cork City Council and their contractors Cumnor are doing a fabulous job on St Finbarr’s Place. The gorgeous planting has been provided by Pavilion Garden Centre. Thanks to all for getting this done ahead of the busy Christmas period and our many festivities.
I note no rush to pave over green spaces in this locality, curiously enough (I’m joking, of course. It’s not curious at all). Hope the cleansing section aren’t made aware of this sudden outbreak of vegetation.
Nor should we take Cork City Council’s temper tantrum too seriously. Last week, I pointed out that national politicians were dubious enough about the local authority’s involvement in a Cork task force.
Perhaps the prospect of missing out on some coffee and biscuits while nodding off in a talking shop — er, urgent discussions about the city’s future, I mean — didn’t find favour with everyone. (A side note for the vexed: to get your task force off the ground come up with a snappy name. Operation Concrete Thunder, maybe. Or Task Force Delta Egg Frosty. Or Leeside Legends On Tour And At Home. Look, no bad ideas in brainstorming.)
The post from Cork City Council which popped up last week got some pretty negative reactions online. That’s not surprising.
If you tell people that you’re not concreting the city when you concreting the city they tend to react badly, because nobody likes to be told they’re only imagining what they can see with their own eyes. Call it the ‘an dubh ina bhán’ effect.
Someone else can tell our local authority that if you’re explaining you’re losing, or they can point out that ignoring real concerns people have is also losing.
But I’m happy to make this offer. I’m not a tree surgeon or an engineer. It didn’t look to me like the tree lately removed was a real threat to people, but I don’t have the technical expertise to contradict those who do, so if they say it was a threat, who am I to say otherwise?
On that basis I’m happy to say regarding the tree — though not the green space which once surround it — that I may be wrong. Yes, that happens.
How about Cork City Council admitting it may be wrong and reinstating the green space and we’ll call it quits?
That doesn’t require any great thaw on either side. I don’t see us all sitting down for turkey and ham together, but nobody’s particularly heartbroken about that.
It would be a bold move if the local authority did the right thing here and simply replaced the turf and grass and plants to put things back the way they were — with the addition of a tree or two.
The council statement on social media made a lot of noise about how many trees it plants: how about a couple here? The statement made no reference to the future use for this space, so no loss on that score.
Admitting to a mistake and making amends for it would be great for the city. And surely that’s the most important thing here.
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