NTA must protect 700 trees facing chop under BusConnects plan, expert warns
Dr Eoin Lettice leading a tour of UCC's tree collection. Dr Lettice has also called on the NTA to publish an inventory of all trees facing removal.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) needs to do a lot more to protect the 700 urban trees which still face the chop under the BusConnects Cork project, an expert has said.
UCC-based plant scientist, Dr Eoin Lettice, has also called on the NTA to publish an inventory of all trees facing removal amid concerns that its replanting claims don’t seem to be backed up by maps.
Dr Lettice, an urban trees champion at UCC’s School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, issued his comments after an initial examination of the NTA’s revised designs for its city-wide network of 11 sustainable transport corridors (STC), published for a second round of public consultation.
He welcomed the decision to omit significant tree felling at Boreenmanna Road, on STC J, which he described as “one of the few routes that will 'break even' in terms of tree removal versus tree replacements”.
He also welcomed the decision to omit the proposed bridge over Ballybrack Woods in Douglas on STC K.
But he said much more needs to be done to save the several hundred other trees still earmarked for removal.
“As part of my submission to stage one, I pointed out that the 'comprehensive tree planting programme' and the promise from the NTA that every tree removed will be replanted as part of the project was not being delivered upon,” he said.
“One STC of particular concern last time out was STC C, from Blackpool to the city.
“According to my reading of the plans, 28% of all street trees along that route were being removed with zero replacements proposed. The new plans offer no substantial improvement.
“The number of trees being removed falls to around 23% but still zero replacements are being considered.
“In a part of the city that is already severely lacking in public green space and street trees, the loss of a quarter of the meagre number of trees along the route is very disappointing.”
He also raised concerns about proposed tree removal along STC D, Hollyhill to the city, where just 59% of trees earmarked for removal were going to be replaced.
“In the new version of STC D, that share has increased slightly to around 66%. Still nowhere near the pledge by the NTA that 'every tree removed will be replanted’," he said.
“As I argued in my initial submission, the NTA should publish a comprehensive inventory of what is being removed and what is being replaced.
“It must also be understood that this will not be a like-for-like replacement.
“In many cases, this will be the removal of mature trees; along with all of the carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and aesthetic value of these; to be replaced with younger trees that do not offer the same benefits.
“To be truly sustainable, we should be replanting many multiples of what we are removing. We need a comprehensive urban greening plan as part of these proposals.”
The NTA has insisted that an extensive tree replanting programme is planned and that a range of public realm improvements are also planned at various points along several STCs.
