Tipperary Council lobbies ministers for aid to help landowners remove dead Ash trees

Tipperary County Council has urged the Government to introduce a national scheme to financially assist landowners to remove roadside trees riddled with Ash Dieback disease amid warnings from councillors worried about the safety risks to road users.

The Council has written to Minister of State for Landuse & Biodiversity Pippa Hackett and Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue supporting the creation of this financial assistance scheme due to the safety risk the trees pose to the public.

This follows the unanimous passing of a motion at the Council’s October meeting in Nenagh requesting the Council to write to the relevant minister about the need for the scheme as winter approaches.

Carrick-on-Suir Sinn Féin Cllr David Dunne expressed concern at the meeting that dead ash trees are going to fall in storms over the next few months. This worry was echoed by Thurles Fianna Fáil Cllr Kay Cahill-Skehan, who tabled the motion after receiving representations from the Irish Farmers Association. She said landowners needed help in relation to the removal of these trees.

“It’s of the utmost importance that this problem is tackled,” she said.

Her party colleague Cllr Ryan O’Meara suggested the Council also write to Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue about this “major road issue”.

SOME LANDOWNERS FAILING TO CUT BACK HEDGEROWS

Earlier at the meeting, Cllrs Máirín McGrath and John O’Heney highlighted how some landowners were failing to comply with their obligations to cut back overgrown roadside hedgerows.

Both called on the Council to come down harder on those ignoring its hedge cutting notices.

Cllr McGrath from Newcastle said while hedge cutting was an expense on farmers, it was an important road safety measure.

“Some people do it so everybody needs to do it. There should be a level playing pitch,” she complained.

Cllr McGrath noted that some councils have hedge cutting grant schemes to assist landowners with the cost of this task.

Cllr O’Heney said non-compliance with hedge cutting notices was a major problem and he was receiving phone calls every day about the issue.

“I have had to resort to approaching individuals privately to see if they can do anything with their hedges.

“It’s a major issue in terms of road safety in some areas of west Tipperary.

“There is going to be a fatality unless people adhere to the rules,” he warned.

The Council’s Director of Roads Services Liam Brett responded that enforcement of hedge cutting notices was a critically important function of the Council.

“We do send enforcement notices and do bring people to court and have done so in the last 12 months,” he stressed.

He appealed to all landowners with roadside hedges to cut them back as necessary.

Mr Brett pointed out the Council has a media campaign to remind landowners of their obligations.

He urged councillors to highlight areas where overgrown hedges are posing a road safety risk to council district engineers.

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