kevinjohnsonmbe

Turn TV on! (Glorious Leader)

I thought the opening was a prelude to 1, I’m now thinking 4!

Too late!

PM Press conference imminent: 1 - resignation 2 - Gen election 3 - Second Neverendum 4 - Carry on regardless Any takers?

Pish and avoidance - yome demonstrating 2 fundamental qualities for current politics! ATFQ! ?

What would be your first dictat ?gg5? Open to all.... What would be the first thing you’d do as PM?

Rarely, uncharacteristicly, you ARE wrong! TCD threw his lot in, but it was me self that suggested a pub conversation in Padstow ?

Was it thee & me that had a chat about fishing a while back and I suggested we take the online discussion to a certain pub in Padstow? I have a vague recollection, and I’m guessing it might have been the 2 of us....

Noooooooo!

All been done before.... But still (tragically) amusing:

That would be because it’s the WRONG COLOUR! (only kidding - just pulling yr leg ?)

It's just SO well suited to that sort of work!

I've got some Beech in at the moment, not very big though, and some Ash & Syc waiting to be picked up - unfortunately nothing very large diameter at the mo and it's the big rings where I've found it comes into its own. I'll get the GoPro charged ready for a splitting day which may (depending how things pan out) be this week! ??

The inspections were undertaken Khriss, wether the recorded observations, subsequent recommendations and repeat inspection periodicity can be defended is, in my opinion (and since we have the outcome) highly questionable. Put it quite simply, the glaringly obvious observable features, the existence of previous, but discontinued bracing (but no substantial structural changes to justify discontinuation) , the target range etc etc can only result in a finding of negligence / incompetence. That is but 1 part of the equation. The other part is the approval of costly, unnecessary, inappropriate and nugatory works with no apparent justification other than as some form of olive branch to the mob - who will in any case, not be satisfied until the trees are removed. It has dawned on me today that it may, in fact, be a subtle approach by the LA, to reduce the crown, by degrees, over the coming years such that the tree ultimately succumbs to the stress of defoliation until it is incapable of fending off the inevitable fungal colonisation. - bingo, fell. Its a PUBLIC tree, it’s PUBLIC money and the LA have a responsibility to the PUBLIC. If only people would would take them to account.... PS - I wouldn’t be at all surprised if someone on AT is advising one side or the other on this.

Cornwall Council - in an unmarked, well stuffed brown envelope! Won’t do you any good though, they’ve already established their own “in-house” cartel!

Stump planer attachment for the black splitter rotator head arrived today! Looking forward to getting this to work on some Leylandii stumps shortly, will grab some video on first run out! It just bolts on where the cone splitter comes off....

There is considerable "background" to this scenario. The issue of liability and compensation for damage caused by (what can only ever be found to be) inadequate prior inspections and maintenance - which is the subject of current investigations / negotiations by insurance companies - and resulted in the failure posted earlier, has caused widespread concern amongst those living nearby. The reality is that there has been a campaign over decades to have the trees removed and this is being used as the 'final push' to add weight to that viewpoint. To be fair, the tree that failed WAS in need of attention and it was the failure on the part of the LA to recognise and properly action this that has resulted in the current situation. Current situation is that some of the more determined of those in the immediate vicinity now feel emboldened to insist upon further action whereas the tree that genuinely needed attention has failed and been removed. The remainder have no observable justification for remedial works but the LA (swayed by political pressure no doubt) have approved works which can only (IMHO) be seen to be (a) an unnecessary and inappropriate expense to the public purse and (b) detrimental (and therefore improper duty to maintain) the retained trees. The up-shot being that the locals that want the trees removed will remain unsatisfied, the longer term viability of the trees will be denuded and there will be necessary / inappropriate expense to the (supposedly stretched budgets.) All round, a Lose, Lose, Lose scenario. To complicate matters further, it is the councils 100% share owned / profit share "arms length company" that has been directed to submit the application (and, no doubt undertake the works) so it is the LA spending public money on a task that is inappropriate and paying it's own company to do the work which will result in some profit share back to LA. The arms length company has made an embarrassingly inept attempt at the initial and subsequent TPO application, the council's TO has made an embarrassingly inadequate assessment of the scenario and the LA has approved the application. If you have a moment to look at the consulate and public comments at the planning page, and the works spec submitted by the arms length company, you'll see how genuinely poor that work is.... Here's a pic of the tree taken this morning. The suggestion that this tree would in any way benefit from further crown reduction is, frankly, laughable (if it wasn't so tragic!) and as to the requirement to achieve the highways clearance, that too is laughable. This is a single track lane access to a village car park. There must be 1000's of miles of roads in Cornwall that would score infinitely higher on the 'need' for highway clearance before this one even appeared on the radar - it is just laughable. Screenshot 2018-11-12 at 10.47.05.pdf

There are 2 pretty awesome (and rare as hen's teeth) CPD events in Cornwall this month Alex: 20 Nov 18 - AA Cornwall branch Autumn conference https://www.trees.org.uk/Training-And-Events/Course-Detail?id=A352978D-DF9B-4490-8225-D1AE6068BEA1&fbclid=IwAR3PI77ba6amu8P5_H2Utf4SVFexQE2stT0Yj0Lb0RZa8D2a3zT3650lx9k and 26 Nov 18 - Cornwall Canopy Action Plan https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/trees-woods-hedges-cornwalls-canopy-action-plan-a-stakeholder-event-tickets-51141976027 If you fancy, and you can get across the bridge as far as Liskeard, I'm driving down West for both!

Dude... It’s like Jeremy Barrell! I have, like, no idea what the equivalent in drains & pumps would be, but iffum yome into vacuum cleaners, it’d be, like meeting James Dyson or iffum yome into cheap ale (or Brexit) it’d be like supping a pint with Tim Martin.... and then aside side from all of that, it’s actually IN Cornwall! Have you ANY idea how rare that is?? I am genuinely beside myself with anticipation!

I'm part way through the LGO referral form. I don't anticipate that it will change the decision but it could serve to embarrass. That, and spreading the detail as far and wide as possible across local and national web platforms. I'll grab and upload some current canopy pictures tomorrow so that all and sundry can see the impact that the previous tree removal has had on the retained tree and how blatantly illogical it is to propose further canopy reduction of a tree which has just lost so much shade. The Cornwall branch AA Autumn conference is a couple of weeks away (and although there has been a notable historic lack of meaningful branch output, the guest speaker this time is not to be missed). Hopefully, there'll be some of the people responsible for this decision in attendance....

It was interesting to see the interviews and background to it in the "making of BlackAdder" program. Apparently, it was almost by accident that they stumbled across the idea of slowing down of the frames and were completely taken aback by the resulting edit which made for such an overwhelming result when they were all wondering quite how they could bring the series to a suitable and fitting conclusion. Unparalleled, tragic, comedic genius!

This is quite a long and fairly complex scenario. The full detail and supporting submissions can be found here (and I suspect only a very few (although I very much hope it is the people I'm thinking of) will go so far as to reading the background) http://planning.cornwall.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=PE81Y8FG06P00 PA18/08061 | Works to trees covered by a Tree Preservation Order (Cornwall Council planning page) Brief background: TPO's trees in a closed cemetery in the care of LA. Usual history of inspections and works as a consequence. Summer this year a partial failure of a mature Beech with clearly observable historic defect features and previous (but discontinued bracing) resulted in the pic below. From this came the pitch fork wielding irrational demands for all the other trees to be felled. A meeting, LA tree officer, local residents, ward councillor ensued and the LA's "arms length" company submitted a woefully inadequate TPO for crown reduction 2 remaining trees (1 Beech 1 Syc). The remaining Beech has now been exposed (were the failed tree was removed) to 180 degrees of direct sunlight which was previously shaded by removed tree. LA proposal is to crown reduce the 2 remaining trees. My contention is that there is absolutely no arboricultural justification for this and that it is a lame attempt by the LA to ameliorate local concern. It is an expense to the tax payer and potentially harmful to the retained trees. Worse than nugatory, actually overtly bad practice. The recent thread in the "arbcology wood decay fungi for arborists and mycologists" Facebook Page which discusses the relative pro / cons of crown reduction is a timely and relevant example of how harm can be caused. It would appear that the only option to challenge the LA in their decision would be to refer the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman (Mynors 24.3.8 p679 2nd Ed) unless anyone has any other ideas? Apol's for really quick canter through... More detail at the link for those that might be interested. For David at VALID, this whole scenario would make for a fantastic case study! @Acer ventura I'm also hoping Jules, Gary, Chris and Ed will have a look @Chris at eden. @EdwardC. @daltontrees @Gary Prentice and anybody else!

?? But I like it ?

Here's another example of the f*cked up perspective that seems to have overwhelmed law & order, media and public perception: https://www.itv.com/news/2018-11-10/one-year-old-among-four-killed-in-sheffield-crash-after-police-chase/ All the reporting of this appears to focus on the "...died after Police chase..." angle. Tragic as it is, it was not the pursuit by the forces of law & order that killed and injured these people - it was the scummy little c*nts in the car that bear the full weight of responsibility. They already know, and play off the fact, that the more reckless they are, the more likely the Rozzers will be forced to back off. What sort of message does that send? Instead of the IPCC investigation (and all the stress, cost and resources that will involve) they should just validate a new pursuit intervention tactic - something like a steel rope stretched across the road ahead of the fleeing vehicle. Vehicle stopped and written off, scummy little c*nts left for dead. Can't see a down side really....

Downderry Alex. Summer months, wouldn’t even try and drive a car through there - hellish traffic congestion and parking issues. On the flip side, out of season months are better BUT it seems everybody has held their building projects to the quieter period - crazy amount of work going on. Unusually, this one has good parking at roadside, space to batch, chip and stack, it’s just the transit from tree to chipper that is a drama. That grassed area is across the road opposite the house and is owned by homeowner Open top chute may get get a bit of further investigation but a major part of the hassle is getting ‘gear’ into the village. Its very likely that manpower is the only reasonable solution.