Edinburgh local fumes as trees planted in private garden cause 'eye sore'

A property management group has defended its decision to plant trees in green space after an angry resident claimed they cause an ‘eye sore’.

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Slateford resident Neil Diggens said trees planted in a grassy area near Slateford Green have rendered the space ‘useless’ for locals who are no longer able to play sports on the grass.

He went on to say that no public consultation was conducted and many local people have been left disappointed with the placement of the trees.

Trees call sporting games to a halt.

Frustrated Mr Diggens said: "We have gone from having a nice local amenity to an eye sore.

“People have complained about this but it falls on deaf ears."

Housing chiefs at Dunedin and Canmore, have hit back at these comments insisting that they have received no complaints from tenants about the trees. However, bosses did not comment about other complaints received from non-tenants.

The company did point out that the green space - which is owned and operated by Dunedin and Canmore - is not a public park and is intended for use by tenants whose properties are adjacent to the area. Mr Diggens is not a tenant of any of these properties.

This gentleman is not one of out tenants

A spokesperson from the housing company said: “We have received no complaints from Dunedin Canmore tenants about these new trees planted in the garden space adjacent to our homes. We understand that this gentleman, while a local resident, is not one of our tenants.

“The area where the trees have been planted is an amenity for use by our tenants. These trees are part of Wheatley’s plans to plant 3000 trees across our communities over the next six months.

"We always listen to our tenants and encourage them to contact us directly if they have an issue to report.

“We are committed to improving the environment for everyone and are investing £100m in sustainability initiatives over the next five years as part of our ‘Greener Homes, Greener Lives."

The group’s plan to plant 3000 trees over the next six months will help Edinburgh City Council achieve its goal of planting one million trees in the Capital by 2030.

Our local green space has been rendered useless for sports

However, Mr Diggens said the local area, which was often used by members of the public, has been ruined by the recently planted trees.

He said: ”Our local green space has been rendered useless for sports because Dunedin and Canmore gardeners decided to plant in the middle of an area that was used for picnics, exercise, football, badminton, frisbee, our local disabled folks even had a garden party during the summer.”

He went on to raise issue with the fact no public consultation had been carried out.

He said: ”Local people have phoned and complained but the response from the housing officer is that ‘oh we meant to plant them there’ and ‘ we have spoken to a few people who are fine with it’.

“Nobody had been consulted about any trees being planted prior to the planting.”

Dunedin and Canmore confirmed that no public consultation was carried out before planting took place but pointed out that this is a privately owned garden for tenants - not a public park.

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