Trees and the Public Realm - Westminster City Council
Trees and the Public Realm - Westminster City Council
Trees and the Public Realm - Westminster City Council
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Page 22<br />
<strong>Trees</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Realm</strong> (Draft)<br />
40. <strong>Trees</strong> planted along streets help to define <strong>and</strong> frame <strong>the</strong> streetscape giving visual<br />
identity <strong>and</strong> enhancing <strong>the</strong> street scene. <strong>Trees</strong> can be used to frame important<br />
buildings, or screen less attractive ones, shade footways <strong>and</strong> enhance biodiversity.<br />
Bayswater Road, W2, <strong>and</strong> Southwick Street, W2: A dramatic boulevard of plane trees (top); crab apple trees<br />
provide interest <strong>and</strong> a foil to <strong>the</strong> built environment (bottom).<br />
41. Equally, poorly located trees can obscure buildings of architectural merit, interrupt<br />
vistas 5 , obstruct <strong>the</strong> function of <strong>the</strong> street including movement <strong>and</strong> street lighting, block<br />
daylight <strong>and</strong> sunlight to residences or in rare cases exacerbate subsistence problems<br />
to adjacent buildings. <strong>Trees</strong> <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r planting should always form part of <strong>the</strong> overall<br />
urban context but should not be added or replaced without question.<br />
42. Tree planting should take account of <strong>the</strong> history, architecture <strong>and</strong> tradition of places,<br />
<strong>and</strong> is not appropriate in every <strong>Westminster</strong> street. <strong>Trees</strong> can in some instances<br />
introduce a discordant note into streets where <strong>the</strong> character is derived from <strong>the</strong><br />
repetition of architectural features, for example <strong>the</strong> regular, symmetrical Georgian <strong>and</strong><br />
Victorian terraces of <strong>the</strong> Portman Estate <strong>and</strong> Pimlico, or where trees were never<br />
intended to be part of <strong>the</strong> street scene such as in <strong>the</strong> narrow 17 th Century street<br />
patterns of Soho <strong>and</strong> Covent Garden. The integrity of <strong>the</strong>se places can be easily <strong>and</strong><br />
5 See Appendix E for more details of <strong>the</strong> emerging <strong>Westminster</strong> policy on views.