1/2 Sticky cars and shutters through stately lime trees: cut them down or not?
37 years ago there was a fuss about the felling of lime trees in the Deken Baekersstraat in Schijndel. Toine Cooijmans lived in that street at the time and thanks to his parents who protested fiercely, the trees remained standing. But now the trees are still in danger of being destroyed. Toine cannot understand it with his mind. “They have only become more beautiful and valuable,” he says.
Toine stands in front of the house where he used to live with his parents with a letter from the mayor from 1986. Next to him is one of the enormous lime trees, which already caused a lot of nuisance at the time. The trees attract lime aphids and they produce a sticky substance that is not happy with car owners, but also homeowners. “They wanted to cut them down, but my father objected and then the municipality decided against it,” he says. “It was a big relief.”
But 37 years later, the discussion is back. Because although, according to Toine, it is the most beautiful tree-lined avenue in Schijndel, the lime trees also cause a lot of annoyance to the residents of the street. The sticky honeydew ends up on cars, shutters and driveways. This is where black sooty mold develops and residents have been complaining about this for years.
“Every morning I have to work here with a bucket of soapy water.”
“All the houses here were repainted last year, and nothing is left of them,” says a man. Another resident takes us to his car. “Every morning I have to work here with a bucket of soapy water,” he says, showing his black diamonds. “We are not opposed to trees, but we want new ones to grow. Which we can enjoy,” says another. “Those people who protest against the felling of trees do not live here themselves. It doesn’t bother them.”
The felling of trees is a sensitive matter in the village and that is why the municipality tries to make a careful decision. There is now a plan to replace 19 of the 30 trees on one side of the street with other trees. The trees will remain on the other side of the street because they cause less nuisance.
“A few months of inconvenience can’t be the deciding factor, can it?”
But part of the village wants not to cut down a single tree. There is now a petition against this already signed more than 270 times. Also by Toine. He hopes that the municipality will decide differently this time too. “During this climate crisis, you should be extra careful with those trees,” he says, bewildered. “These are very healthy trees that pose no danger to the environment. I understand that people are bothered by it, but nuisance that lasts no more than a few months a year cannot be the deciding factor, can it?
The Meijerijstad municipal council will make a decision on December 14. The initiators of the petition are trying to find out exactly how old the trees are before then. If the trees are older than eighty years, they can be registered in the national register of monumental trees and may no longer be cut down at all.
