Clearing out hundreds of dead trees

Plans are underway to remove hundreds of “unhealthy” trees in the Bell Creek open space of Belleville’s east end.

The idea is to cut hundreds of trees, taking some right out.

Parks and Open Space Supervisor Rowland Cave-Browne-Cave tells Quinte News the city has received several concerns about the dead trees standing, and the potential for them to break and fall down.

“There’s a couple of hundred in there that we’ve been given permission from the Conservation Authority to knock down.”

He said it is the result of the “emerald ash borer” that is “decimating” ash trees across New York State, Ontario and across Canada.

A couple of hundred of trees in the area north of Victoria Avenue, west of Farley Avenue, will be taken out in September since they pose a threat by breaking, or falling during a storm.

All hazard trees within 30 metres of property lines will be removed.

Trees within the open space that are outside this parameter will be topped and left to provide habitat for wildlife.

There are also trees in there that the Weed Act requires the city to remove.

The work will continue as long as the season permits.

He added, “We currently have 450 trees in parks that we’re treating to try to maintain the species for our children for heritage purposes. The beetle is just decimating forests. For example, last year we removed 54 trees out of Morris Parkette in the west end of the city. It is just a decimating occurence in Belleville and in Ontario as well.”

The city has also indicated that to protect the creek, two access roads will be built into the parkland, entering from Kawartha Court and Lanark Drive.

Cave-Browne-Cave explained, “Any roads or pathways that we’re creating we’re removing afterward, because the area is a wetland and the Conservation Authority has said that is not for public access.”