Trafford street ‘worse place to live’ because of missing trees

Tree pits on Albion Street appear to have been empty for years.

Harry Gray, who lives in Salford but works in Trafford, said: “The legacy infrastructure in Trafford was implemented with good considerations for pedestrians, but the upkeep has been lacking with trees dying and not being replaced.

“Trees missing on residential streets makes them more polluted and a worse place to live.”

Google Street View history shows one of the two trees in the tree pits went missing sometime between July 2014 and July 2017.

The other tree pit has been empty since before September 2008, when the first Google image was taken.

In response, Trafford Council said it would be replacing the trees.

A spokesperson for Trafford Council said: “The Council is aware that a number of trees have recently died on Albion Street in Old Trafford. 

"In view of this, new trees will be planted in this location as part of the Council’s annual borough-wide tree planting programme which will commence in February 2023.”

ALSO READ: Charity appeals for land to plant thousands of trees in Trafford.

July 2014 is the last time Google Maps captured a tree in the pit (Image: Google)

According to a report by Forest Research, an executive agency under the Government’s Forestry Commission, street trees “have a potentially significant role to play in climate change adaptation because they can moderate urban environments, for example by capturing particulate pollution”.

The benefits of street trees listed by the report include:

• Reducing air pollution.
• Providing an environment conducive to physical activities.
• Reducing stress and improving mental health.
• Reducing noise levels.
• Cooling air in summer by giving shade, including associated savings to the NHS from avoided heat stroke.
• Reducing UV radiation through shading, including associated savings to the NHS from avoided skin cancer.
• Reducing wind speeds in winter, thereby reducing heat loss from buildings.