When anti-social behaviour was causing issues on Bridget’s street, she decided something needed to be done, and she needed the help of her neighbours to do it.
Some of the lesser known benefits of street trees is their effect on anti-social behaviour such as speeding cars and crime. Coming from a background of architecture and construction design, Bridget knows this well, and so reached out to Haringey’s tree officers…
Enough is enough
Bridget’s street is like many in London – a mixture of families, elderly lifetime owners, multiple occupation households, renters, and home owners. It’s also a convenient cut-through, and so gets a lot of vehicle and foot traffic. The unfortunate side to that is speeding cars, fly tipping and littering, making the street an unsafe environment for kids to play in and generally giving it a dishevelled look.
Deciding to take matters into her own hands, Bridget reached out to the Tree Officers at Haringey Council, who informed her about our tree sponsorship scheme.
Connecting a street
Knowing there would be others who would like to see some of these issues addressed, Bridget reached out to her neighbours. Over a dozen households got involved, and together they donated towards the planting of 5 new trees, with Haringey Council funding 3 more.
Bridget says that using the Trees for Streets scheme has brought her community together. “The scheme encourages you to go out there and communicate with your neighbours and get to know each other – which is a good thing in this busy city where people often never know who is living next door!”
The result
It turns out trees were exactly what this street needed. The residents have noticed that households no longer put discarded items on the pavement, and there is noticeably less litter (aided by the ‘no litter’ signs the kids have designed to put on the trees!).
Bridget told us that “kids play out on the street a lot more now, and people take better care of their front gardens.”
Sponsoring new trees and seeing them put in place has reminded everyone that this is their community, and they have the power to make it a safer place to live.
Onwards and upwards
The community is applying for even more trees this year, with ambitions to transform the street into a verdant avenue. Alongside plans to add more bins and put plant containers on the corners – these neighbours are truly making lasting, positive changes.
Transform your street
Street trees provide a huge variety of benefits, from improving mental health, to influencing traffic speed, to providing clean air – the list goes on.
If you think your street could benefit from more urban nature, click here to find out if we work with your local council, or reach out to our team to discuss your green plans; hello@treesforstreets.org
