"But the plans were on display…”
“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”
“That’s the display department.”
“With a flashlight.”
“Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.”
“So had the stairs.”
“But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”
Alternatively…
“Bypasses are devices that allow some people to dash from point A to point B very fast while other people dash from point B to point A very fast. People living at point C, being a point directly in between, are often given to wonder what’s so great about point A that so many people from point B are so keen to get there, and what’s so great about point B that so many people from point A are so keen to get there. They often wish that people would just once and for all work out where the hell they wanted to be.”
Barely seems like 4 weeks since we were launching a witch hunt because someone cut down a tree near Hadrian’s wall…
Shrewsbury needs it’s bypasses improved but there must be a way to swing around the tree.
In the picture there sure is a lot of area around the tree… But hey, if they have a hard on to cut down old significant trees, who’s to stop them.
Significant because of its age? Sure. Significant because of its tenuous ties to Darwin? Someone named it Darwin’s Oak a couple years ago to gather public sympathy against the project. You could argue against any development in the area because “Darwin may have walked on these grounds and threw rocks in this stream as a child”.
Yeah I’m all for keeping old trees like this one but that’s because old trees are good in and of themselves. I care less about Darwin possibly having climbed it 200 years ago and more about little boys and girls climbing it 200 years from now. Nobody will be driving on that bypass in 200 years but I do hope that children will still be climbing trees like this one.
Ah yes. Darwin’s stream. We should protect that stream.
I can tell you there’s fuck all chance Darwin was near it.
Shrewsbury needs it’s bypasses improved
Does it, though? I see a perfectly good railroad, as well as National Cycle Route 81, running right through town. So WTF does anybody need a bypass for?
To turn public funds into private profits.
Stott Hall Farm is an example of how large roads can be build around existing landmarks.
Granted I know absolutely nothing about roadbuilding (I’m sure it’s more complicated than this) but surely if a motorway can be built around an entire farm then a bypass can be built around a single tree…?
The reason behind building around the farm seems to be something quite practical:
“The myth was somewhat debunked last year when a recently unearthed documentary revealed that a geological fault, rather than an awkward farmer, was the real reason for Stott Hall, which lies west of Huddersfield, in West Yorkshire, being left in that peculiar location.”
Yeah this is true. In that case they had to build around the farm.
But, in the case of the tree, are they choosing not to build around the tree because the land either side of the tree is unsuitable to build a road on or because it’s cheaper just to plough through the tree? I wouldn’t know… but it makes me wonder.
Is there not a legal challenge people can make?
Classic @fuckcars material.
Imagine being this addicted to cars. Wait, thats literally every country i know about. Humanity, get your fucking shit together, your home is burning and you try to extinguish the fire with oil.
Sigh. Yet another thing that must be sacrificed on the altar of the almighty motor car.
Funny how there’s no massive national campaign against this like there was against HS2.
Curious if transplantation is an available option
Too old too big, I’ve seen it.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Two hundred years later, “Darwin’s oak” has been handed a death sentence to make way for a new road to bypass Shrewsbury.
Despite a long-running campaign to save the ancient tree and its fellows, its fate was sealed on Tuesday night when Shropshire county council’s 11-member planning committee narrowly approved the new road, by six votes to five.
Proponents claim it will free up road space and take traffic out of the town centre, thereby improving air quality, reducing journey times and boosting the whole county’s economy.
“I absolutely accept that the NWRR divides opinions, but I’m confident that it will make a huge difference to people, not only within the town, but also in the surrounding villages,” said Dan Morris, Shropshire council’s cabinet member for highways, after the planning committee’s decision.
[It’s] just a brilliant landmark tree that many people, many residents use … to find solace and to connect with nature and to repair themselves, really.”
The narrow approval of the Shrewsbury North West Relief Road is a dark day for the environment and our natural heritage as it threatens the loss of this living legend, numerous other irreplaceable veteran trees, and will damage nearby ancient woodland.
The original article contains 600 words, the summary contains 199 words. Saved 67%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
