New trees to bring more greenery to town centre

Olive trees and J Newell Alderley Road Oct 2023

Parts of Alderley Road and Water Lane have been enhanced by the addition of eight olive trees.

The olive trees were bought by Wilmslow Town Council and have been incorporated into planters provided by Cheshire East Council, through a nationwide Covid Recovery Grant grant scheme in 2021 to enhance town centres, but which the Council says were previously not planted for maximum impact.

Olive trees were chosen for the planters because they are hardy in a wide variety of weather conditions, provide a more structural form than the previous planting, are relatively slow-growing and easy to maintain.

They have been positioned along a section of Alderley Road that has undergone significant commercial change over recent years. The Town Council hopes its investment in softening the appearance of this area will help this row of businesses to thrive in the future and to attract new tenants.

Councillor Jon Newell, Chair of Wilmslow Town Council  said, "We hope that by enhancing this side of Alderley Road, which previously featured little greenery, the businesses in that area will continue to flourish.

"We look forward to the trees growing and establishing to enhance the environment and town centre."

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Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Deborah Slade
Thursday 9th November 2023 at 3:05 pm
Sadly it’s not the Mediterranean around here. Couldn’t we have native species ?
Pippa Jones
Thursday 9th November 2023 at 3:18 pm
These look great: wonderful to have the prospect of a green barrier between the traffic and the shops and cafes, and in time hopefully some summer shade! Thank you to everyone involved: great to see more trees in town.
Jon Williams
Thursday 9th November 2023 at 5:03 pm
Not very friendly to the visually impaired though, even a car on the footpath in the above photo.
Fiona MacDonald
Thursday 9th November 2023 at 5:45 pm
We should be planting indigenous trees, not Olives. These trees may be hardy, but won't survive in the North of England!
Stuart Redgard
Thursday 9th November 2023 at 10:14 pm
#Jon Williams
The car isn't on the footpath, It's on private land. As are all of the planters in the photograph above.

#Fiona MacDonald
I'm quite sure that Oak Nurseries will be fully aware of the fact that there are only 5 species of tree native to England that are evergreen and I've no doubt that these would also have been considered. If the olive trees don't survive "in the North of England", then the town council can sue Oak Nurseries for professional negligence.

#WTC
Thank you for investing in the town centre street scene.
Simon Worthington
Friday 10th November 2023 at 1:08 am
Sow’s ear quote comes to mind. More obstacles to negotiate as the ditherers stop to gaze at their government approved tracking device blocking what’s left of the pavement.
What a waste of money.
Mark Goldsmith
Friday 10th November 2023 at 7:51 am
Olive trees were chosen because unlike any of our native species they:

- Can survive with little maintenance or watering.
- Are slow growing, so they don't outgrow their pots.
- Are hardy down to -15 degrees. In fact they need at least 3 months of cold weather to
flower and fruit, so are perfectly able to survive Northern weather.

The pots have just been moved from outside the old Barclays building and disabled parking bays. They did not cause any reported issues for pedestrian accessibility there, so I am not sure why anyone thinks they will in their new position.

Previously, the pots were filled with plants and flowers that were low level and looked rather lost. The trees add some height and scale for the pots and cost around £700. However, this is a one-off payment that will save the annual cost of replanting them with flowers and the expense of continually watering them over the summer.


Cllr Mark Goldsmith
Residents of Wilmslow
Wilmslow West & Chorley
Terry Roeves
Friday 10th November 2023 at 7:58 am
Excellent choice!
Ryan Dance
Saturday 11th November 2023 at 6:19 am
For the keyboard warriors here. Live a little, banish your negativity, indulge yourself. Life is short..you’ll soon be gone.!

Thanks WTC
Simon Worthington
Sunday 12th November 2023 at 11:08 am
So problems negotiating cluttered pavements have to be reported to be of concern. The pots between Barclays and Green Lane were/are a nuisance as are many of the others.
Thanks for the positivity Ryan. Living a little and enjoying myself would be easier without the obstacle course of our restricted walkways - tables, chairs, dogs on long leads, more pots, cars blocking pavements…….
Ryan Dance
Sunday 12th November 2023 at 5:29 pm
Simon W,

If you can’t negotiate your way past the so “called obstacles”. I’ll assume we will stick on the trees in this exchange then given the oversized pavement on that side of the road… Then I suggest your go to specsavers. Given your love of driving and hatred for calming measures also speak to the dvla while you are on. You definitely shouldn’t be driving either.
Simon Worthington
Sunday 12th November 2023 at 9:27 pm
Haha. You obviously don’t spend as much time on the obstacle course as I do. Note the comments about the human/dog blockers - a large part of the issue!!