Felling ‘was allowed’ says council officials
COUNCIL officials have said there was nothing wrong with cutting down trees at a housing development near Helensburgh.
Residents and councillors expressed concern earlier this week over the removal of trees at Blairvadach, in Shandon, as part of work on the building of new homes in the area.
They have called for the rest of the woodland to be given to residents.
But Argyll and Bute Council said the removal of the trees was in line with the planning permission given for the development of the site.
The authority’s Helensburgh and Lomond area committee, on March 12, was told any removal of trees which were under tree preservation orders (TPOs) would be “deeply concerning”.
Helensburgh Central councillor Gary Mulvaney asked the authority’s officials to “urgently” look at the position and establish if anything had been done without permission.
When approached by the Advertiser for clarification a council spokesperson said: “The removal of trees protected under the Tree Preservation Order was permitted under the planning permission for the site and no breach of planning control has occurred.
“The assessment of the tree removal can be found within the case officer’s report of handling, which is accessible online under the planning reference 22/01730/PP.”
It was reported that the trees cut down included seven of nine giant redwoods in the area.
Concerned resident Audrey Baird contacted the Advertiser over the removal of the trees, calling it a “betrayal”. She said despite the need for new homes, the council was putting the world “further into nature poverty”.
Ms Baird said: “’Local’ democracy has utterly failed our community, we’re totally powerless to protect our environment for our children and wildlife and now we’re also dealing with the consequences of more floods because the trees are gone.
“The community didn’t want this and if the council had asked the local primary school children they wouldn’t have wanted nature and habitat for wildlife destroyed either.
“Give our community back what’s left of our woods at Blairvadach.”
She added: “Anyone destroying the sorts of gnarled native trees that are hundreds of years old, capture the most carbon and provide habitat for wildlife are stealing the future from children.
“We and our children can’t afford decision makers like those at Argyll and Bute Council who care nothing for our community and just see both nature and local residents as cash machines while they obliterate the tiny remaining fragments of mature, biodiverse woods and wild hill land we have left.”
Rhu and Shandon Community Council told the Advertiser they were “concerned” about the number of trees felled.
They said: “We would have expected that at the preplanning meeting which took place, the developer would have been advised that as few trees as possible should be felled.
“We thought that the Tree Protection Order on these trees would in fact protect them. In all 78 trees were removed, including seven of the nine Wellingtonias on the site.
“These trees are known to sequest more carbon in their trunks than any other tree, and were a feature of Blairvadach.
“The community council feels that the destruction of so many trees in this climateconscious time is unjustified.”
At the council’s Helensburgh and Lomond area committee on March 12, depute council leader Councillor Mulvaney asked officials to investigate.
He said: “We need to understand what happened and who potentially did it. It is quite a serious matter, I would suggest.”
Dumbartonshire MSP Jackie Baillie said: “I am disappointed to hear of the destruction of cherished woodland at Blairvadach.
“Whilst Argyll and Bute Council believes that no breach of regulation has taken place, it is clear that the law in this area needs to be strengthened.”