'Grave concerns' over plans to fell more than 800 trees including an entire wood in Edinburgh

Opposition councillors have expressed ‘grave concerns’ over plans to fell more than 800 trees, including an entire wood, in an Edinburgh residential area.

Under threat: trees

Last week, campaign group Edinburgh Trees severely criticised Edinburgh City Council plans to fell 862 large, mature trees as part of plans to build a new green corridor walking and cycle pathway from Roseburn to Fountainbridge.

The plans involve the entire felling of Sauchiebank Wood, a small wood wedged between Russell Road, the Western Approach Road, the railway line to West Lothian, and the line to Glasgow.

Although the council plans on planting 5,000 trees as part of the project, Edinburgh Trees co-founder Eleanor Harris said that “a woodland ecology which has developed over fifty or eighty years is irreplaceable.”

However, the council says that only five of the 862 doomed trees are ‘high quality’.

Now, Pentland Hills councillor Susan Webber says her Conservative group raised concerns months ago: “Back in August I posed questions asking if the public knew about the scale of tree removal that was planned for this active travel project.

“I also asked if the answer was no, then when and how will they know about it?

“I asked for an open and proactive approach to notifying the public given the outcry that resulted from the trees being removed at Princes Street Gardens and I had every reason to believe this would happen given the commitment from the council leader [Adam McVey] when he accepted and included my request.

“Given the public response to this recently, I can only presume that the approach I had hoped for has not come to pass.

“Councillor Whyte and I spoke at length about the types and grades of trees that were involved and we both expressed our grave concerns at some of the more established trees being removed as part of this scheme.”

In response, Liberton and Gilmerton councillor, and chair of the SNP/Labour administration’s transport committee, said: “The plans for this multi million pound investment project underwent extensive public and stakeholder consultation and feedback was clearly in support for our proposals to produce an active travel route which delivered on many other aspects too.

“This site is about more than simply cyclists and walkers having a new path. It will transform a previously unloved, unused and poor quality area of mainly self-seeded trees and vegetation on a site which has not been open for use.

“What will emerge will improve the area immeasurably, both for those travelling through it by foot, by bike or by wheelchair and local residents.

“This ‘green corridor’ will include 4795 new trees to replace the 862 that are being removed, of which only five are considered to be of high quality.

“The new trees will produce better diversity and environmental quality in the area, as well as improving the look and feel for all who start using this area.

“I have enormous sympathy with those who want to protect trees. They are the very heart of the city we live in.

“We have developed a project plan which will deliver enormous benefits to local residents, including those with limited mobility, and which has been developed through very careful consideration of how to improve the overall quality of the trees on the site.”

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