COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF RATHFARNHAM/TEMPLEOGUE-TERENURE AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

QUESTION NO. 8

QUESTION: Councillor D. Looney

"To ask the Chief Executive how many trees are intended to be planted by the Council in the area under the remit of this Committee during 2015, and to make a statement on tree planting in this area in general?"

REPLY:

The Council plans its annual tree planting in accordance with available budget resources. The financial constraints of recent years have resulted in very limited implementation of new or replacement tree planting across the county, including the Rathfarnham/Templeogue/Terenure area, over the last 5 years.  In recent years also, due to an increasing demand for maintenance of existing trees, the Council has focussed the application of available resources on tree pruning and removal.   

As stated in the Council's Tree Management Policy "Living With Trees", the Council aims to identify an annual target and budget for tree planting to re-establish its commitment to a countywide programme of tree planting.  In this regard, additional provision for tree planting is being proposed under the Council's 2016 budget.  The proposed additional provision would enable the planting of approximately 500 trees across the county to be implemented during spring and late autumn 2016.     

Areas to be prioritised for new tree planting will be those where trees have been removed or where there is an identified need to increase the overall tree cover.  Requests from Council members and local residents for new trees in their road or area will also be taken into consideration within the planting programme. Individual requests will be prioritised according to the number of trees already on the street, including those in front gardens and on adjacent land.