Stanisław Grzybowski has lived on Obrońców Westerplatte Street for almost 60 years. In 1953, after Stalin's death, he planted a chestnut tree opposite his home. The tree grew tall and healthy. It blossomed beautifully in spring. “It is the most beautiful tree on the entire street,” says Helena Grzybowska, Mr Stanisław's wife.
Recently, local residents, including Mr Stanisław, learned that the chestnut tree was to be cut down. They tried to intervene in the matter at Bolesławiec City Hall. “It is as if someone had cut off a person's head,” says Stanisław Grzybowskiindignantly. “It is not a little birch, it is not a little cherry tree. It makes my blood boil when something is destroyed,” he adds. “I think this tree should not have been cut down,” Ms Sabina, who has lived in the area since 1947, told us.
As we learned, the tree was cut down on 14 May in the afternoon. Permission was granted by the Bolesławiec County Office. “The application for permission to cut down the chestnut tree reached the desk of the Bolesławiec county head for formal reasons,” explains Majka Nowak, the county office spokesperson. “Since the city president owns the plot, he could not grant permission to himself,” she adds.
As Majka Nowak acknowledged, the application met all formal requirements. Officials decided that the tree conflicted with a planned development. The land leaseholder wants to build a detached house here. “The underground utilities on the plot are arranged in such a way that they leave no alternative to the submitted construction design,” the spokesperson notes. If the chestnut tree had not been cut down, it would have been impossible to erect the designed building.
Something in return
The county authorities obliged the leaseholder of the plot on Obrońców Westerplatte Street to plant four trees by mid-April 2009. After three years, the land user will face an inspection. If it turns out that the trees have not been planted, the leaseholder may have to pay a fine of more than PLN 20,000.
(GA report)