Call for forestry to be 'pulled back' from public roads - Cllrs
Two county councillors in Co. Laois have called for trees to be "pulled back" from public roads as a matter of "health and safety".
Independent councillors for Graiguecullen - Portarlington, Aisling Moran and Ben Brennan have both called for action to be taken to "pull trees back" from public roads.
Brennan told Agriland he believes "all trees should be cut back by at least 20m from the road".
He said: "Forestry should be taken back to protect people, it’s about health and safety. At the end of the day, it’s down to the government. Whether they do it or not is another thing.
"I don’t have any faith in the government. It’s all about common sense. People should know trees are a danger and that’s it."
Cllr Moran also spoke to Agriland, and said that trees are "a danger" on public roads.
She explained: "From a forestry point of view, you should only be allowed to plant trees a certain distance from overhead wires, from roadways, because it’s the councils that end up paying for it.
"The councils are paying to get trees removed, to cut them down, roads being held up, all of that. The likes of Coillte, and other forestry, shouldn’t be allowed to plant within a certain distance of the road, so that if a tree does fall, it won’t impact anybody."
" We’ve have had cases where trees fell, and in one particular area, people were held in for over a week. There has to be more joined up thinking," she added.
According to Moran, bringing trees back from the road won't have a negative impact on forestry.
"Everybody else is impacted, it doesn’t cost the forestry any money, it’s costing the councils," she said.
"If you have trees planted along the side of the roadway, and a tree falls on somebody, you are responsible for it.
"Going forward, with the weather we’re having, it might be more sensible to ask land owners to have the trees cut down on the sides of the road, and pull them back," she added.
The councillor highlighted that she isn't calling for forestry owners to stop planting trees.
"We’re not saying to stop planting trees, plant more trees, but plant them where they won’t have an impact. That would protect farmers and landowners," Moran added.
