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Dianne Watts' last motions: Trees and veterans

Outgoing Surrey mayor says she wants an end to the planting of 'stick trees' in the city
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Dianne Watts

In her final act as mayor of Surrey, Dianne Watts is asking city staff to plant more significant trees in public spaces.

"It's always been my pet peeve when we take down evergreens and put up stick trees," Watts said last Thursday.

"I've continually harped on this issue, so one of the last motions I will make is to reverse that trend and ensure there's a combination of maple trees and evergreens."

She says it's a missed opportunity not to plant large trees.

"It's us (the city) as well – you look in the medians or the boulevards,  you've got all the stick trees," Watts said. "Plant some evergreens."

Another order of business Watts said she wanted to take care of is the renaming of a Cloverdale public space near the museum.

She wants to change the name of Heritage Square to Veterans' Square.

"It needs to be done," Watts said. "For some reason there's been pushback on that, but it's going to be named Veterans' Square."