1. Are the Council chopping down more trees? a. Yes. 2. Why? a. Because they hate trees. Just kidding. In fact, they insisted they like trees. They really, really, really do. Especially the Landscape Architect who has a particular fondness for trees and tried his best to include them in the upcoming changes. 3. What changes? a. Well, for a start, the massive arena with a 3,500 capacity being built over by St David’s in town. It’s state-of-the-art, it’s curvy, it has a dynamic visual display on the side which can show whatever the arena fancies: Jimi Hendrix, Britney Spears, adverts, news. Think of the big TV in Castle Gardens only on a much grander scale. It even has a lift so will be accessible for all. You’ll see it with your very own eyes by the end of 2020. A bridge will sweep down from the arena to new buildings, including affordable housing. If you like buses, you’re in luck because more stops will be added. Perhaps more interesting to us tree-huggers is the Car Park Park. No, that’s not a typo - they’re building a big park on top of a big car park, complete with plenty of greenery (evergreens, birch, coastal grasses) and children’s play areas made out of natural materials (pebbles and wood and the like.) The park will be as big as the Liberty Stadium. They haven’t forgotten the yoot either who will have a skating area. 4. Enough about buildings. Which trees are being chopped down this time? a. Okay, here goes. There are 275 trees in the next redevelopment zone. Experts classified these using the ‘British Standards’ for tree work. Roughly half are “medium quality” and have 20 years left in them. Another half are “low quality” and have 10 years max of life. 5 are “poor” and have serious defects. Here’s a helpful guide: http://www.flac.uk.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Table-1_flac.pdf 75 will be retained. The rest are ‘under assessment’. Sounds ominous, right? Well, it’s not all bad. They’re looking to replant some which is massively expensive, so points for effort. 58 semi-mature trees will then be planted plus another 35 in the Car Park Park. Eventually there will be more trees overall but there will be years of building sites before that happens. They were keen to say that the designs in the centre were created around as many trees as possible, like in Orchard Street, where the new road layout incorporated several trees. If they tried to save all the trees, they would have had to scrap the plans. Hmmmm. 5. Are the new trees going to be tiny saplings planted in root cages so they don’t grow too big? a. No - they will all start out as semi-mature so around 10 meters high. Some will be bigger and some will be smaller depending on the species. The root cages contain soil full of nutrients to help the trees grow. Bumpy pavements lifted by tree roots are a bad sign: they mean the tree can’t find the nutrients it needs to grow below. Contained urban trees are happy trees. Also, a lot of soil is contaminated with sand and copper slag so the root cages will ensure the trees have access to the nutrients they need and make them a lot healthier than many of the trees in town at the moment. 6. What about 5G? I’ve heard trees block 5G signals. This must be the real reason for felling and smaller new trees planted. a. The Council and developers insisted the plans have nothing to do with 5G. Buildings block signals more than trees. 7. Are you SURE it’s nothing to do with 5G? a. I asked several times. No, they said. No it is not. Much sighing. 8. Are the trees going because the Council are skint and smaller trees cheaper to maintain? a. If the Council had no money to throw at trees they wouldn’t be spending a small fortune on this tree project. Replanting one tree alone can cost tens of thousands. Although it must be said, a big, beautiful, unruly, mature plane tree whose roots are tearing up pipes and whose branches are knocking on walls could cause VERY expensive damage over and over again. We didn’t really discuss this but it can’t be discounted. 9. What about the trees around St Mary’s Church? a. They’re safe. 10. How come the Council are regreening Swansea when their grass-cutting budget has been cut? a. Rest assured, there will be real grass and not astro turf.