Complaints halt felling of trees on Synge Street

FOUR ELM trees in inner-city Dublin have been given a temporary reprieve by Dublin City Council after local residents prevented their felling.

The 30-year-old trees were in a group of eight elms on Synge Street that the council began to fell last week.

Four were cut down before the council agreed to stop its work after local residents complained.

Though the company contracted to carry out the work had informed local residents that trees in the locality would be pruned, it had not warned them some would be removed.

The council told residents one of the trees appeared to be impacting the basement wall of one residence and also that the footpath had been repaired at a number of locations due to the tree roots raising the footpath and causing a trip hazard.

Given the vigorous growing habits of the species, it was considered prudent to have the trees removed and replaced, where possible, with a more suitable species, the council said.

However, in a statement issued yesterday, the council said the four trees would not be removed immediately.

It said following a meeting yesterday between the council and local residents, it was agreed no further felling would be carried out on the remaining four elm trees until a replacement planting plan had been agreed with residents in the area.