Standard Bank is redoing the inside courtyard garden of Cradock Place in Rosebank (I think they’ve bought the property).
It isn’t a very pretty garden and I hear that they have plans to make it really nice, but it has a little fountain, plenty of trees and a host of birdlife (bulbuls, barbets, loeries, mousebirds, woodpeckers, weavers and sparrows).
The birds, especially the bulbuls, have been coming here for years to drink water and have their daily bath – even last winter when it was so cold and the water was frozen, they came every day. Then they [the birds] go and sit in the trees to preen and warm up.
I went there this morning – and every single tree has been cut down. There must have been over a dozen – some of them two stories high. And they’re all gone! So I guess that puts paid to the bird watching and the bird song – plus, of course, there’s no more shade.
I thought that Standard Bank was supposed to be so green and eco-conscious?
They’ll probably plant more trees – but at most they’ll be little shrubby things that will take decades to grow. I know it sounds stupid, but I’m so upset! The birds are going to come this afternoon at 4pm for their daily bathtime – and there’s nowhere for them to come to.
Standard Bank responds: –
Standard Bank remains committed to developing and supporting green initiatives as part of our ongoing approach to sustainability.
Standard Bank is in the process of restoring the existing Cradock Place inside courtyard garden, in partnership with the building landlord, due to be completed by the end of April, weather permitting.
The pre-existing garden consisted of a number of exotic trees and plant life, and on completion, the new landscaped garden will be filled with a variety of indigenous plants and trees,
to attract bird and insect life as well as incorporating the original birdbath water feature.
