Trees and the Public Realm - Westminster City Council

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Page 12 Trees and the Public Realm (Draft) Social benefits – including health and well being 15. The aesthetic value of trees is arguably their most obvious contribution to the city. Trees can be planted to create places and symbolise community focal points, either by acting as physical barriers to movement, visual barriers which create the illusion of space, as navigational aids to direct people, as objects of beauty to attract people. Trees can also be objects of beauty in their own right, simply because their shape is intrinsically pleasing or perhaps because of their particular features of foliage, flowers or bark. It is these qualities that can help to create an attractive and comfortable street that will encourage people to linger and make contact with others. 16. Trees can also assist by: • Providing historic continuity – trees can live for several centuries and provide an emotional and physical link to past events and planned townscapes. • Forming an important component of historic designed spaces such as London Squares • Providing a foil to the built environment by introducing organic shapes and colours into the townscape. • Marking the changing seasons with leaf changes and floral displays. • Acting as landmarks when mature, and providing visual emphasis to vehicle and pedestrian routes. • Screening unsightly views - Even quite small trees planted close to the view point can be used to screen distant undesirable views. • Giving shade and thereby potentially reducing temperature, and increasing comfort levels. • Reducing stress and illness by providing psychological refreshment and a sense of well being through softening the built environment, creating character and a sense of place and permanence. • Releasing scents and aromas that elicit a positive emotional response contributing to health and well being. Economic benefits 17. Trees can potentially increase property values. They enhance spaces and can provide an attractive environment for business, leisure, tourism and residents, therefore encouraging further investment. 18. Other economic benefits include: • When planted strategically they can reduce carbon emissions by reducing fuel costs for heating and cooling buildings. • Providing a sustainable source of compost (leaf litter) and mulch (wood chips). • Providing employment through all aspects of the arboriculture industry.
Trees and the Public Realm (Draft) Page 13 19. Trees form part of the City Council’s green infrastructure and should be valued as a capital asset. Significant trees 20. Some trees have been recognised as being of particular value in their own right. The Great Trees of London is a scheme promoted by the London Tree Forum which aims to promote trees by letting people know where to find some of the truly outstanding or “Great Trees” in the capital. What makes a tree outstanding might be great age, great size, historical association, interesting shape, rarity and so on. Usually it will be a combination of these factors. Seven Great Trees are located in Westminster and are described in Appendix A. 21. It is large landscape species which often confer some of the greatest benefit to built up areas due to their sheer scale and large tree canopy and will become increasingly more important for the role they play in climate adaption. Managing the health of these existing trees is vital. Subject to the heads of consideration outlined in the following five sections, opportunities should be investigated to encourage more of these significant trees in the city to ensure the succession of Great Trees. Where planting new large trees in a particular location is not possible, though can be given to replacing the tree canopy with a group or series of smaller trees. Victoria Embankment: Photo of planting scheme, taken 1870-1900 (sourced from English Heritage).
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