| Residents angry at tree felling |
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| Wednesday, 03 September 2008 | |
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Residents in South Dublin are furious with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council for cutting down trees in order to accommodate bus lanes. An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the controversial Monkstown Ring Road project proposed that trees close to Brookville and Rowanbryn be removed during the recently begun building work and replanted at a later date. However, the council has now cut down the majority of the trees, some of which were over 100 years old. The council says the provision of bus lanes for the road will necessitate narrower grass verges than originally envisaged. It maintains that as a result it has not been possible to replant trees. On Thursday, August 21 a group of about 15 residents from Rowanbryn and Brookville rushed out to the road and asked the contractor hired by the council to carry out the felling to stop cutting the trees. Residents claimed they received minimal information from the council on the commencement of the road works including the tree felling. In addition, they argued that the trees were cut down to accommodate bus lanes for which there are no planned bus routes. Barry Troy, who is a member of the Rowanbryn and Brookville Residents’ Association, was one of the fiercest critics of the Monkstown Ring Road at the An Bord Pleanála oral hearing into the development. Following the hearing, An Bord Pleanála gave the go ahead for the scheme despite the strong recommendation of the board’s own inspector against the proposal. Mr Troy said locals were very frustrated at the council’s handling of the situation. “A lot of people were really upset over the felling of the trees and especially over the big pines down at the junction of Deansgrange Road,” he said. “There were some Scots pines about 200 years old and 120 feet high. These trees are older than the people who live here. When you go down there now what was almost a rural setting is just a bleak and empty area. Mr Troy also pointed out that there are no current proposals to operate buses on the bus lanes that the trees were felled to make way for. “These bus lanes will only exist along the section of the road near Rowanbryn and Brookville,” he added. “When you are out of Brookville and Rowanbryn there are no bus lanes on the roads going away from them in either direction.” The council has confirmed that the remaining 11 trees along Rowanbryn and Brookville Park are due to be removed, in addition to two trees at Deansgrange Road and a further 20 along the entrance to Fleurville. Richard Sheehy, resident engineer in the council's Transportation Department said: “As part of the planning approval for the scheme other statutory bodies are consulted and their aspirations taken on board in the design. In the council's consultations with Dublin Bus, they required the provision for bus lanes. "A landscaping plan has been drawn up in consultation with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council's Parks Department and new tree planting will be undertaken as an integral part of the proposed road scheme.” He added: “Such planting will compensate for the loss of trees during construction and enhance the new roadside landscape. Insofar as possible native tree and shrub species will be used for replanting.” The Monkstown Ring Road Project will link the Deansgrange Road to Stillorgan and has been described as an "alternative" route from Dún Laoghaire to Stillorgan. The project was agreed by councillors in 2006 but was referred to An Bord Pleanála, which gave the green light in June 2007. |
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Developed by Kevin Flynn