DURING National Tree Week, Waterford City & County Council is to ‘counterbalance’ controversial recent tree felling. The Council has attracted stinging criticism in recent weeks for largescale tree felling across Waterford City and County. However, with National Tree Week taking place from March 31st to April 7th, a local Councillor believes there is a chance to remedy recent actions.
Speaking at the March plenary meeting of Waterford City & County Council, Cllr Lola O’Sullivan (FG) pointed out that the Council had been “lambasted” by many members of the public as well as Councillors in relation to the amount of tree felling which had taken place. She suggested that the Council could increase the number of trees being distributed to community groups for National Tree Week.
Cllr O’Sullivan said people who were “so quick off the mark on social media to criticise the Council for cutting down trees” should be encouraged to go out and plant trees in suitable locations. She also asked that Waterford City & County Council consider planting orchards in public areas, and follow the example of local authorities that have already done so. Commenting on the tree felling, Director of Services Fergus Galvin explained that there was “very good reason for doing so”.
“To counter balance, during National Tree Week, we will be distributing over 300 saplings to community groups and residents associations across the city and county,” he said.He explained that this would be supplemented by planting another 250 mature trees, primarily in urban areas of Waterford City, Dungarvan and Tramore during the same week. Mr Galvin pointed out that almost 1,000 beech saplings had been planted in the Kilbarry area within the past couple of weeks while, within recent years, almost 100,000 saplings have been planted.
He said the Council has a “proactive tree planting and tree maintenance programme”.
In relation to Cllr O’Sullivan’s call for the development of orchards, Mr Galvin agreed it was a “good idea” and would be worth exploring
