DUNGARVAN
Vol. 107
OBSERVER Friday, 1st March, 2019 09
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SEAPARK TREE FELLING SPARKS CONFRONTATION
Gardaí present at three hour stand-off between some residents and Council workers THE attempted removal of trees from the leafy suburb of Seapark in Abbeyside last Thursday morning sparked a three hour stand-off between some of the residents of the estate and Council workers, writes Paul Mooney. Gardaí were called to the confrontation, which became heated at times and lasted from approximately 8.30 a.m. until 11.30 a.m. The matter concluded with Council workers allowed to continue the tree felling on the condition that the wood be collected by one of the residents for distribution to a charity or needy cause. Waterford Council said the removal of the trees in Seapark was a necessity as the trees have become unsuitable to their environment. Many of the roots of trees had broken up through the footpath, causing a tripping hazard for pedestrians. It is understood there have been several claims against the Council over the years, where pedestrians have been injured when they’ve tripped and fallen on broken footpaths in the estate.
A spokesperson for Waterford Council said there were a number of factors governing the removal of these trees, particularly damage to footpaths in Seapark and that the tree species, in most cases, were more appropriate to parkland settings than a housing estate. “This is an on-going issue and crops up regularly where trees that were planted with well meaning intent 20 or 30 years ago, but insufficient thought or knowledge was given at the time to the types of trees being planted and their suitability to the location,” said the Council spokesperson. However, some of the residents of Seapark said they were not consulted over the tree felling.The work taking place clearly upset several residents, as the trees have been there for nearly 40 years and is a defining characteristic of the estate. One angry resident said “there should be an alternative to cutting down the beautiful trees which have made the avenue”. The resident also pointed out that some trees had been cut down outside her house four years ago, but the footpaths were never fixed. c Continued on page 4
Gardaí were called to the confrontation between some residents and Council workers, at Seapark, Abbeyside, last Thursday morning.