Mountshannon tree-felling dubbed ‘a storm in a teacup’

Complaints made to Clare County Council and an East Clare county councillor over the felling of five trees in Mountshannon has been described as nothing more than “a storm in a teacup”.
Mountshannon Community Council and Clare County Council had identified five trees along the main street of the village, which were deemed to be “dead” or “half dead” and on the certification of the local authority work was carried out to remove them.
Following the works a number of residents complained to the county council and to their local county councillor, Pat Burke. He described the complaints received as a “storm in a teacup”.
Councillor Burke explained that the trees had to be removed due to “health and safety” concerns as they had been rotten and stressed that the trees are being replaced.
“Some of the residents sought permission to have these trees felled because the roots of the trees were undermining their foundations and five trees in total were cut down, and six trees are being sown in their place.
“There were two at the hotel that were rotten and the others were only producing 50% of the leaves they did last year and were doing the damage to the footpaths and it is quite possible they were also undermining houses. The footpaths up to the houses were being burst up by the root of the trees. The roots will also be removed.
“The county council gave permission to the community council to cut them and the local FAS workers carried out the works. I have trees myself and unfortunately no one likes to see trees cut, but in this case it was the right option,” he said. 
Six trees have already been sown, three on each side of the street and according to the county council the root systems won’t be as destructive to the area but they are in keeping with what was there before.
“They will be an improvement to the village,” Councillor Burke concluded.
Addressing public concerns that no written permission was given to fell the trees, senior executive engineer for the Killaloe electoral area, Hugh McGrath said certification was given and it did not need to be given in written form. 
“As a local authority we have exemptions for tree felling in relation to works required within 50 metres of a public road. Mountshannon Community Council, who do Trojan work, approached us to remove the trees outlined, and they funded it. We certified that they were to be taken out.
“You can’t just take trees out anywhere you like, you can only cut ones if you have a felling licence or if you have received an exemption certified by us. We are also able to fell ones that we need to take down for road safety or road improvement. It doesn’t have to be a written instruction but it can be written. It all depends on who talks to who and we have a good relationship with the community council who we feel has the best interests of the public at heart,” Mr McGrath commented. 
He reiterated that the situation in Mountshannon was such that five trees needed to be addressed, three were cropped stumps of three or four metres high.
“One could make the case that these tress could sprout again but from the council’s point of view these were inappropriate trees for the treescape. Our primary reason for the two oak trees to be removed was that the roots had become invasive and were protruding and causing a trip hazard. We were also concerned about their potential to invade adjoining houses.
“People in the area would be aware we had to take a tree out that affected the foundation of a house before. Oak trees are not suitable for planting near structures and are more suited to green space. We are replanting appropriately selected trees. Our gardening section would have been consulted and they are advising us on this. We will be treating the roots with an injection that only impacts the roots,” he explained. 
He said that the pavements remain uneven but will need to be addressed at a later date but how best to deal with this is still under consideration.
He added that the council “is not in the business of removing trees for the sake of it”.
“It is in our interest that these works are addressed. Trees have public liability issues too and we have a duty to the tax payer that we look after them and we have a general responsibility to do that. One might recall some years back a tourist bus in Portumna got crushed by a fallen tree and anyone who remembers that will appreciate the more sinister side of lack of attention to trees,” Mr McGrath concluded.