Council has ‘no record’ of felling Concern over trees that have been chopped
Council bosses say they haven’t a clue how many trees they cut down in Perth and Kinross over the past three years.
But they do know they wiped out 30,000 square metres of woodland to make way for a brand new road.
Responding to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request asking how many trees it had felled in the last three years for which data is available, an information officer said the local authority could not tell as it had kept no records.
It comes after a nationwide investigation revealed more than 110,000 trees had been chopped down by councils across the UK over a three year period. The true number of trees cut down is also likely to be far higher as many councils failed to provide information for the investigation.
“We can advise that we do not specifically record the number of trees felled on our works instructions,” the PKC information officer’s response said.
Asked how much cash the council had spent felling trees over the same period the officer similarly said: “We do not hold this information as we do not record details specifically only for tree felling.”
Separately the PA then asked PKC if it had kept tabs on how many trees it had chopped down along the route of the new A9/A85 junction and link road to Bertha Park and whether it had any idea how many trees would need to be removed to make way for the proposed Cross Tay Link Road.
A spokesperson replied: “As detailed in the planning application for the A9/A85 route, specific numbers for tree removal had not been identified due to the scale of the site. However, the environmental appraisal and planning assessment did assess tree removal and the associated mitigation. “Overall, the following was set out: •0.6 Ha within ancient woodland designation
•2.4 Ha of Broadleaf and semi natural woodland
•140 individually scattered trees along the route
“Following this original assessment, a number of trees had to be removed in the cut down trees at Perth Crematorium to make way for a new road between it and McDiarmid Park
grounds of [Perth] Crematorium, which had been subject to windblow damage and fewer than 10 trees were removed on the route adjacent to Pullar Terrace and on Crieff Road itself.
“This was primarily addressed in the original environmental statement and committee report.
“In relation to the Cross Tay Link Road, trees felled will be in consultation with the council’s planning and community greenspace teams and further details will be available as the plans progress.”