The plan of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer to remove all poplars along the Geniedijk because of dangerous falling branches has led to a silent and anonymous protest in Hoofddorp. But that is not necessary, says the municipality: the trees will be removed, but they will be replaced by elms.
With the above poster, a position is taken in Hoofddorp against the felling of the trees. Not a sender, but with a version in Dutch and English, and over the entire length of the cycle path on the Geniedijk between the train station and the Rijnlanderweg. It is difficult to say whether the initiator of the action knows that the trees will be replaced.
Plan completed
In addition to the aforementioned section of Geniedijk, the municipality will also be working this autumn between Spieringweg and Drie Merenweg, Rijnlanderweg and the A4 motorway, and between Aalsmouderweg and Fort Aalsmeer. This means that the project will be completed after more than ten years.
The plan to remove a total of 1,800 poplars along the twelve-kilometre long Geniedijk dates back to 2012. At intervals of a number of years, the tree species was slowly replaced by elm trees. That last happened in 2020. That is why the municipality thinks that local residents may have forgotten the original idea.
“In hindsight, the choice of poplars was not a smart one at the time, but of course they didn’t know that seventy years ago”
The poplars are old, more than seventy years old, and there is therefore a great risk that thick branches can fall just like that. “Arms of up to thirty centimeters in diameter can let go without even a breath of wind,” says project leader Wim Dekker in a press release from the municipality. The elms that are now being planted do not have that problem.
Not very smart
“In hindsight, the choice of poplars was not a smart one at the time, but of course they didn’t know that seventy years ago,” says Dekker. The municipality hopes that the elms will be more future-proof. They should last 200 years.