Longford County Council: Hazard of unsafe trees needs to be addressed

Trees falling on public roads are the responsibility of the landowner, members of Granard Municipal District were told at their November meeting.
In the wake of Storm Debi's rheavy winds, fallen trees were reported across the county as local authorities moved to respond to the damage following the red and orange weather alerts.
Longford was particularly hard hit with disruptions to electricity and public transport continuing for days after the storm.

The issue was raised when Cllr Paraic Brady said the issue of trees falling on public roads needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
“Farmers should get a small compensation to take down these trees, or a deal done where contractors take down the trees and the cost of the work is taken out of their payments. We cannot have a situation where we have these unsafe trees along our roadways,” Cllr Brady said.

Cllr Paraic Brady

He said the hazard of the trees falling on roads due to storms was exacerbated by the problem of Ash dieback, weakening the trees and making them more vulnerable to storm damage.
Contributing to the discussion, Cllr Garry Murtagh, Cllr PJ O'Reilly and Cathaoirleach Turlough McGovern added that it was important to have a policy that reduced the danger of trees falling on public roads.

In his reply David Coppinger, the Senior Executive Engineer, said the onus was on the landowner to address the issue: “In law trees that are growing along a roadway that cause problems have to be dealt with by the landowner.”