Recently in environment Category

The residents association has been in contact with a number of people in the area who have had contact with more than your average garden visitor in recent times. There is at least one resident fox in the catchment area . I'm sure many people may need to check their calendars for April 1st when reading this, but there have also been reports of a resident badger population. The residents association feel that it is important to keep the exact location of these sightings a secret so we do not disturb the animals. I know that it was a surprise to me when I heard the reports but after a little more reading the sightings are perhaps not that unusual. This excellent report mentions the famous badger found sheltering in the warmth of the City hall's boiler house. The report also mentions a fox which became trapped in Castlecourt shopping centre and was captured on CCTV. So keep your eyes open, you may find more than you expect in the alleys and gardens of our area.

The r esidents association have secured TPOs on the old trees on the steep bank which marks the boundary between Palmerston Road and Denorton Park. The residents association is also working to secure orders on a number of other trees within the area.

What are TPOs?

In Northern Ireland tree preservation orders (TPOs) are made by the Department of the Environment's Planning Service and are designed to:

• protect trees which add to the character and appearance of an area
• keep and protect the structure and variety of woodland, especially where they offer protection to natural wildlife habitats
• make sure that new developments take into account the landscape setting.

A TPO prohibits the cutting down, lopping, topping or wilful destruction of trees without first obtaining permission from the Department of the Environment, unless the tree is dead, dying or has become dangerous. If someone deliberately destroys any tree which is protected by a TPO, or prunes a protected tree in a way which is likely to destroy it, they are guilty of an offence and could be fined up to £30,000. Under the Planning (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 the Planning Service can compel the replacement of trees or even replace the tree themselves and charge the offender.

The bird, animal and plant life in Sydenham is much more diverse than you would expect to find in a relatively urban area. The Palmerston area had, until recent times, large areas of rich habitat to support the varied flora and fauna. We are lucky to still have pockets of greenery and our resident bird population includes some rare species. A member of our committee, carried out a bird count in his garden over the period of a few days in Winter 2006. The following is a species count of birds which are resident in his garden, birds which flew over once were not counted, although an exception was made for the Sparrowhawk which often swoops to ground when it catches something. It should be noted that this count was in the winter months so migratory species are not included.

• blue tit
• coal tit
• great tit
• long tailed tit
• goldcrest^
• wren
• robin
• blackcap (resident)
• goldfinch
• siskin
• greenfinch
• chaffinch
• bullfinch*
• pied wagtail
• house* & tree* sparrows
• dunnock ^
• starling *
• mistle^ & song thrush*
• blackbird
• collared dove
• wood pigeon
• feral pigeon (rock dove)
• magpie
• rook
• jackdaw
• hooded crow
• carrion crow
• sparrow hawk.

An impressive count of 30 in all, 5 species are on the red list and 3 on the amber list of the RSPB. * means on the RSPB red list ^ means on the RSPB amber list. Which equates to high conservation concern and medium conservation concern