Hydro pays for axing trees in park

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This article was published 19/05/2021 (1746 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MANITOBA Hydro is trying to make amends for chopping down more than 200 trees in Omand Park in March.

Wolseley residents were incensed after Hydro axed the trees, mainly tall Manitoba maples, rather than prune them. The trees were next to a Hydro corridor at the edge of the park, which is nestled against the Assiniboine River and is popular with dog-walkers, cyclists and joggers.

Hydro had said the trees were growing into two circuits of overhead power lines.

“The residents association was of the opinion that they were overzealous…they should have been pruning and not cutting down the trees,” said Marianne Cerilli, chairwoman of the Wolseley Residents Association, Wednesday.

While many of the trees were on Hydro-managed property next to the rail tracks, the city found that 35 of them were on city property. Four of them were considered dead.

As a result, Hydro will compensate the city for 31 trees, and the money will be used to plant trees in the park.

Cerilli said city naturalists filed a complaint about the cleared trees, which led to negotiations between the city’s forestry department and Hydro.

“We are working with the City of Winnipeg to provide compensation for 31 trees; four other trees were listed as poor condition or dead and not included,” a spokesperson for Hydro said.

“The City of Winnipeg will use the funds to develop a replanting plan for the area which won’t encroach on our poles and power lines, but will be in keeping with other vegetation in the Omand’s Creek area.”

The city provided no comment.

Cerilli said the solution works for Wolseley residents, who will be involved in the planning.

“We’re really glad to see that there’s an agreement in place,” she said.

Now that the community will can weigh in on the type of trees planted, Cerilli said the association hopes to have fruit trees and berry bushes, as well as evergreens, fill in the cleared sites.

Cerilli is advocating for a “tree bylaw” that would make it challenging for utilities to chop down trees without considering other options.

She has joined a group that’s calling on the city to consider the cost and ecological benefits of urban tree cover during city planning. Shade cover, for example, reduces heating, electricity and air conditioner costs, she said.

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers