VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

Re: the idea of felling mature trees to make way for bike lanes in Halifax: to cut down trees in order to green the city is an oxymoron and is contrary to HRM’S own Urban Forest Master Plan.

Once these large trees are removed, they cannot be properly replaced. If HRM is proposing to replace them with saplings, these do not provide canopy, shade, protection from weather, CO2/O2 exchange, or beauty to our city — this is even if they survive.

I am fully supportive of bike lanes, but it is not a zero-sum game. In a fair process, there should be balance and equity among stakeholders, including those who wish to keep the mature trees in HRM and those who feel that the parking in and around the VG hospital area and Schimdtville Heritage District is critical.

HRM is proposing, in some of the options on the table, to remove mature trees on Morris Street between Queen and South Park streets. Parking spots will also be lost. The St. Mary’s Primary School, Spencer House Seniors Centre, residents of the Schmidtville Heritage District, who do not have driveways owing to the age of their homes, will all suffer major access issues.

Patients trying to park to access the VG hospital site will lose the parking spots close by on Morris Street.

The QEII is already looking at instituting “double parking” within its lots due to this crisis. Patients miss appointments due to not finding parking, which affects their health outcomes as well as the overall system, as they then need to be rebooked and already limited health-care capacity is wasted. Emergency vehicles heading for the hospital or fire station, and Halifax Transit, which uses Morris Street for a bus lane, will also have issues.

HRM has other options to consider that do not involve cutting down mature trees and eliminating parking in this vital area.

Other city streets are also at risk of losing their mature trees to make way for bike lanes.

Community engagement sessions are upcoming; ultimately, the decisions will be made by our city councillors, and the responsibility for the final result will be on them. If citizens are concerned about any of these issues, they may contact their city councillor, or Mark Nener, who is the active transportation planner for HRM (nenerm@ halifax.ca).

Once those chainsaws come out, it will be too late. The time to get engaged to preserve the beauty of our city is now.

Joanne Corbett, Halifax

IN OIL SILO

Eric Nuttall weeps in his Sept. 17 “analysis” article that, in the years ahead, there will not be adequate supplies of cheap oil to support continued economic growth due to the lack of investment in the fossil-fuel sector.

But his half-page article does not once mention the here-and-now threat of global climate change due, in large measure, to continuing oil consumption.

He blames “not fully informed government policy” for this sad oil situation, but does not mention the vast amount of science-based analysis that directly links our oil consumption with existing, likely irreversible change in global weather patterns. He also blames the “ignorant masses” — those of us concerned about climate change and who are critical of continued investment in oil production. He does not acknowledge that increased oil production will certainly accelerate climate change.

What planet is Mr. Nuttall — who is an oil industry analyst for a company promoting the oil industry — living on? Unfortunately, he is living on our planet.