Editor:
What a shock to wake up on Sunday morning to discover that all 30 of the maple trees lining Johnston Road between Thrift Avenue and 16 Avenue had been cut down and removed in the dark of night (Upset over early-morn tree cutting, Feb. 28).
All that remained were the large stumps of these majestic old trees and bits of wood shavings.
It was heartbreaking and very reminiscent of the horror of discovering that the hillside of the East Beach had also been clearcut without warning just a few years ago (Bluff clearcut catches many off guard, May 13, 2015).
I continue to be astounded at the utter and complete disregard of our city council to the concerns and feelings of its constituents. While they may have been within their rights to cut down our trees – over the objections of many – they might have warned and prepared us.
It seems that in their arrogance they just don’t care enough to bother.
This council has certainly left its mark on our city by the sea. Our beautiful trees are being replaced with parades and highrises and the prospect of a strip club. The vision this city council has for our city does certainly not align with that of the majority of its citizens. I doubt very much that any of them will be re-elected this year. I certainly won’t be voting for them.
Cathy Bridges, White Rock
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I just returned from doing my shopping and words are insufficient to express my dismay, anger, disgust, sadness and helplessness at the sight I came upon when walking down Johnston Road between Russell and 16 Avenue.
At first, I could not determine why, all of a sudden, I got this impression of wasteland, this eerie, deserted look on the streets and sidewalk. Then I realized every single tree has been cut down.
I thought only some were to come down because of the construction adjacent to the Royal Bank – but no, all trees, on both sides of the road.
I guess hope really is the first step down the road to disappointment.
The City of White Rock gets uglier by the day. What should be a vibrant interesting commercial core looks like a hideous, abandoned town waiting for a miracle to resurrect it. That’s the master plan behind the clearcut frenzy, I guess. Well, we will now go from ugly wasteland to ugly cement towers.
Shame on you, city hall! Not only is this treeless area now ugly and sad-looking, but those oxygen-producing trees that could have mitigated all those fumes we will ingest with all this new traffic have all been insensitively and insensibly cut down.
If we’re lucky, I suppose, there will be a few token saplings planted so that in a decade or two there might be some visible greenery on the main drag…
Lynda Hornby, White Rock
