Landowner denies illegal felling of a dozen trees on Soroba site

LANDOWNER facing an allegation of illegal tree felling near Soroba House in Oban says he is sure he is in the clear, writes Kathie Griffiths.

Graham MacEachen, who bought the plot of land in 2016, said he took professional advice before the trees were taken down last month.

Mr MacEachen, a qualified architect, said by the time the dead, dying and dangerous trees were taken ‘out of the equation’, the number of healthy trees he felled on the site would be ‘well below’ the number that officially needed a Forestry Commission licence.

The trees do not have protectOBAN’S ed status but Forestry Commission Scotland confirmed it was investigating the ‘alleged illegal felling of a dozen large trees’ on land near to Soroba House.

Mr MacEachen from Oban said: ‘I took advice from a local tree surgeon and we think we didn’t need a licence.

‘It’s early days, but I’m planning on building a house there for myself and selling a couple of plots. No one is ever happy when you talk about putting houses up, but no one is furious about it or the trees as far as I’m aware.

‘I’ve spoken to residents at a meeting to tell them about my building plans but it was nothing specific about the trees. The land had become overgrown. To get to the dead wood, some healthy trees had to be felled,’ he added.

Mr MacEachen has since met with Foresty Commission officers at the site to explain his project. He said: ‘I explained I would be replanting some trees and using trees as screening for the plots and they seemed happy with that.’

People living near the site had previously told The Oban Times they assumed the landowner had got the permission needed to fell so many trees.

‘We saw it happening and just thought the landowner would have got permission first. They were lovely trees. A lot of them were tall oaks,’ said one man, who asked not to be named.

Another man said he was happy more light was now getting into his home.

Felling work has stopped on site.

A Forestry Commission spokesman said: ‘Forestry Commission Scotland is currently investigating an alleged illegal felling of a dozen large trees.’

Investigations by the commission can take days or weeks, depending on circumstances. If illegal felling is found and a conviction is made, in some cases there can be fines of up to £2,500.