Street tree planting plan 2024 / 2025
Dear Merton Borough Council,
Thank you for your reply to my FOI on replacement street tree planting.
As I refer to that in this request, here is the link - https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/r...
Please confirm that the spreadsheet you shared will be put at your web site – and kept up to date as things change.
Please share the web site link to the spreadsheet in your response to this request.
You said “The data for 2024/25 planting season is still in the planning phase and the council will be using the Vacant Tree Pit Locations List shared and the potential 500 replacement planting locations will be plotted by September 2024 and all trees should be planted between October 2024 and March 2025”.
Please share the 500 replacement planting locations that were planned to be plotted by September 2024 as a spreadsheet.
Please also put the 500 replacement planting locations at your web site, and share a link in your response to this request.
Can you confirm that these 500 planting locations include reported tree pits which did not appear on the spreadsheet you shared with me. I am aware of several street tree pits which were reported via your web site that did not appear on that spreadsheet, and as I know of these only through personal contacts, there may be many more.
Yours faithfully,
Sandra Vogel
Thank you for your email message. We aim to respond to all requests under
the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Environmental Information
Regulations 2004 within 20 working days. More information about the way we
deal with information requests is on our web site at
[1]www.merton.gov.uk/foi
Information Governance Team
London Borough of Merton.
020 8545 4634
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Dear Sandra Vogel,
Freedom of Information Act 2000/Environmental Information Regulations 2004
– Information Request
Your reference: F20922
Thank you for your request for information received by us on 29/10/2024.
Your request is being considered and the council aims to provide the
information requested within 20 working days, providing that the
information is not exempt.
If we cannot provide the information by the 26^th of November, we will
write to you to explain why before that date. If any of the information
you have requested is exempt from disclosure, we will write to you and
explain which exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 apply.
More information about the way we deal with information requests is on our
web site at [1]www.merton.gov.uk/foi.
If you have any queries or concerns then please contact us at Merton
Council, Civic Centre, Morden, SM4 5DX or e-mail [2][Merton Borough
Council request email]
Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:
The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Telephone:0303 123 1113. Website:
[3]www.ico.org.uk
Yours sincerely,
Information Governance
Information Team
Merton Council
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Please help to reduce waste and do not print this message unless you
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are not the intended recipient please destroy all copies and inform the
sender by return email. Any views or opinions expressed in email are
solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of
Merton Council. Merton Council reserves the right to monitor, record and
retain any incoming and outgoing emails for security reasons and for
monitoring internal compliance with the Merton Council policy on staff
use. Email monitoring and/or blocking software may be used and email
content may be read. Merton Council may be required to disclose this email
(or any response to it) under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 unless
the information in it is covered by one of the exemptions in the Act. The
message may contain information that is confidential or sensitive; you
should handle it accordingly.
Please view the council's privacy notice at
https://www.merton.gov.uk/legal/privacy-...
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1. http://www.merton.gov.uk/foi
2. mailto:[merton%20borough%20council%20request%20email]
3. http://www.ico.org.uk/
Dear Sandra Vogel,
Freedom of Information Act 2000 / Environmental Information Regulations
2004 Information request
Thank you for your Freedom of Information Request.
We have now considered your information request as set out below.
Your Question:
As I refer to that in this request, here is the link -
[1]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www....
Please confirm that the spreadsheet you shared will be put at your web
site – and kept up to date as things change.
Please share the web site link to the spreadsheet in your response to this
request.
You said, “The data for 2024/25 planting season is still in the planning
phase and the council will be using the Vacant Tree Pit Locations List
shared and the potential 500 replacement planting locations will be
plotted by September 2024 and all trees should be planted between October
2024 and March 2025”.
Please share the 500 replacement planting locations that were planned to
be plotted by September 2024 as a spreadsheet.
Please also put the 500 replacement planting locations at your web site
and share a link in your response to this request.
Our Response:
Please see the attached Excel Spreadsheet showing the number of
replacement planting locations across Merton linked to FOI F20271.
Please note that the attached spreadsheet contains provisional
information, and as you will see there are 59 Tree Planting Locations to
be confirmed (these are highlighted in yellow). We would anticipate
completing this piece of work during December 2024.
Your Question:
Can you confirm that these 500 planting locations include reported tree
pits which did not appear on the spreadsheet you shared with me. I am
aware of several street tree pits which were reported via your web site
that did not appear on that spreadsheet, and as I know of these only
through personal contacts, there may be many more.
Our Response:
Please review the spreadsheet we have shared in our response and if you
note any missing locations from your personal contacts, we would be happy
to accommodate these planting locations from the remaining 59 standard
trees from the stock yet to be allocated.
If you have any queries or concerns about this, please contact me.
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request or wish to
appeal against the decision to exempt any part of your request, you should
request an Internal Review at [2][Merton Borough Council request email]
or write into Freedom of Information team, Merton Council, Civic Centre,
Morden, SM4 5DX.
If you escalate to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) without
following the council’s internal review process, the ICO will refer you
back to the council to enable the correct process to be followed.
You can also appeal to the Information Commissioner at:
[3]https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/offi...
There is no charge for making an appeal.
Yours sincerely,
Jefferson Nwokeoma
Director of Public Realm
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Please help to reduce waste and do not print this message unless you
really need to.
This message, including any attached files, is intended just for the use
of the individual or organisation to whom it is addressed. Unauthorised
use (for example disclosure, storage or copying) is not permitted. If you
are not the intended recipient please destroy all copies and inform the
sender by return email. Any views or opinions expressed in email are
solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of
Merton Council. Merton Council reserves the right to monitor, record and
retain any incoming and outgoing emails for security reasons and for
monitoring internal compliance with the Merton Council policy on staff
use. Email monitoring and/or blocking software may be used and email
content may be read. Merton Council may be required to disclose this email
(or any response to it) under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 unless
the information in it is covered by one of the exemptions in the Act. The
message may contain information that is confidential or sensitive; you
should handle it accordingly.
Please view the council's privacy notice at
https://www.merton.gov.uk/legal/privacy-...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Visible links
1. https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.w...
2. mailto:[merton%20borough%20council%20request%20email]
3. https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/offi...
Dear WSG Members,
Thank you for your reply.
You have not responded to some of my FOI, namely:
"Please confirm that the spreadsheet you shared will be put at your web site – and kept up to date as things change."
"Please share the web site link to the spreadsheet in your response to this request."
"Please also put the 500 replacement planting locations at your web site and share a link in your response to this request."
Thank you for the spreadsheet.
In response to you asking me to check on the tree pits I reported, these are not included in the full tree pit spreadsheet, or in the spreadsheet of upcoming planting you have supplied in response to this request.
Thank you for your offer to include them in the 59 locations to be confirmed of the sheet.
I was under the impression this should already have happened - I have been in correspondence with the Leader of the Council about these. Their letter to me dated 4/8/24, ref ECC24M0575 says "We have recorded the dead trees, tree stump and tree pit in [my street], where you constituent has raised these tree planting requests. This matter has been noted on the boroughs tree software system Ezytreev for attention and replacement trees will be arranged."
I will email you separately to give you the locations of these pits for inclusion in your spreadsheet for this coming planting season, and would be grateful if you could confirm this is the case in response to that email.
In the mean time please could you respond to the outstanding questions in this FOI request.
Thank you,
Yours sincerely,
Sandra Vogel
Dear WSG Members,
I have waited a long time before replying to this FOI request as we have been having email exchanges outside of the FOI process. However this has become emails from me to you with zero responses, and so I am picking this up through the formal FOI channel again.
My last email to you on this topic was on 17 April. Prior to that I sent emails on 19 March and 4th March. All three of these emails have very similar content. They were all sent to Andrew Kauffman Head of Parks Services, Jefferson Nwokeoma Director of Public Realm and Ross Garrod leader of the council. None of you have even done me the courtesy of sending an automatic response or acknowledgement email to the three mentioned above.
Prior to that, on 7 February, I was sent an email by Andrew Kauffman which promised the full list of all Phase 3 trees the following week - "to be completed by the end of March 2025" and that the three pits requiring new street trees I had reported would be included. No such list has been sent to me, and the list is not online at https://www.merton.gov.uk/planning-and-b...
Please can you:
a) share the Phase 3 planting list and publish it at the link above
b) explain when Phase 3 planting will begin and be completed
c) explain why there has been a delay in publishing the Phase 3 list and completing the planting
d) explain why nobody has responded to my three most recent emails
Yours sincerely,
Sandra Vogel
Yours sincerely,
Sandra Vogel
Dear Sandra Vogel
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request.
Please find attached an acknowledgement letter for this request.
Yours sincerely
Information Team - Information Governance
Corporate Services
Merton Council
From: Sandra Vogel <[1][FOI #1193134 email]>
Sent: 29 April 2025 09:09
To: WSG Members <[2][email address]>
Subject: Re: F20922 - Vogel
Dear WSG Members, I have waited a long time before replying to this FOI
request as we have been having email exchanges outside of the FOI process.
However this has become emails from me to you with zero responses, and so
I am picking this up
Dear WSG Members,
I have waited a long time before replying to this FOI request as we have been having email exchanges outside of the FOI process. However this has become emails from me to you with zero responses, and so I am picking this up through the formal FOI channel again.
My last email to you on this topic was on 17 April. Prior to that I sent emails on 19 March and 4th March. All three of these emails have very similar content. They were all sent to Andrew Kauffman Head of Parks Services, Jefferson Nwokeoma Director of Public Realm and Ross Garrod leader of the council. None of you have even done me the courtesy of sending an automatic response or acknowledgement email to the three mentioned above.
Prior to that, on 7 February, I was sent an email by Andrew Kauffman which promised the full list of all Phase 3 trees the following week - "to be completed by the end of March 2025" and that the three pits requiring new street trees I had reported would be included. No such list has been sent to me, and the list is not online at [3]https://www.merton.gov.uk/planning-and-b...
Please can you:
a) share the Phase 3 planting list and publish it at the link above
b) explain when Phase 3 planting will begin and be completed
c) explain why there has been a delay in publishing the Phase 3 list and completing the planting
d) explain why nobody has responded to my three most recent emails
Yours sincerely,
Sandra Vogel
Yours sincerely,
Sandra Vogel
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