COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF RATHFARNHAM/TEMPLEOGUE-TERENURE AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

QUESTION NO. 9

QUESTION: Councillor S. Holland

"To ask the Chief Executive to report back in relation to a representation I have received from a resident in Mountdown Park who asked last year that trees be planted following the removal of cherry blossoms which destroyed the paths and to advise when the tree planting is scheduled to begin?"

REPLY:

In recent years, due to an increasing demand for maintenance to be carried out on the c. 60,000 existing trees, the Council has focussed the application of its available resources primarily on tree pruning and removal activity. This has resulted in very limited implementation of new or replacement tree planting across the county over the past few years.

However, as stated in the recently adopted 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, an additional €50,000 provision for tree planting is proposed under the Council's 2016 budget and over the coming months, it is planned to prepare a tree planting programme which will be carried out during spring and late autumn 2016. In formulating this programme, Mountdown Park will be assessed to identify suitability for replacement tree planting.

The extent of the 2016 tree planting programme will be determined by prioritising areas 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 streets or areas 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.

Details of a proposed tree planting programme in 2016 will be presented to meetings of the Council's Area Committees early in 2016.