Shropshire Star comment: Baseline is we need to go greener

The idea was that as land became available, people would be encouraged to plant trees on it, and over time everything would eventually link up into a vast expanse.

This was long before the days anybody spoke of a climate change emergency.

That forest never came to pass, but the value of trees in the landscape is appreciated more than ever now, which is why a new group at Shropshire Council is looking to promote planting trees on council-owned land that does not have much agricultural value, as a way to contribute to a reduction in carbon emissions.

From an environmental point of view, it is an idea which can be cautiously welcomed, although with a number of caveats.

It will not do to plant trees willy-nilly and then pat yourself on the back in self congratulation as you think how you are helping to save the Earth. Some sites for trees are more suitable than others. Some trees are more suitable than others for particular areas.

Planting a tree is not a neutral act. They can grow bigger than you expected or wanted. If they get disease, they may become dangerous.

Judicious planting of appropriate trees in well-chosen sites can play its part in a green strategy.

And while we’re talking about green strategies, Shropshire Playing Fields Association has a produced a blueprint which has the concept of protected space, green corridors which encourage people to cycle or walk. For too long, it says, towns and villages have been designed around cars.

As it happens, these concepts are virtually the ones which informed the design of the new town of Telford over 50 years ago, keeping traffic separate from pedestrians and cyclists, although with the difference that the association is looking for a world in which people can better cope without cars, while the Telford designers were largely concerned with safety.

The way forward is for everybody to live greener lives – and for it to be made easy to do so.