Louise Heavin, Green Party Local Election Candidate has commented on the recent felling of trees in Burgess Park, Athlone, a well known local amenity area. She commented “Burgess Park is one of the few green amenity spaces in Athlone and it’s an especially popular one. It’s disappointing that a number of mature trees have been felled in the park, without any public consultation. The Park is known to generations of Athlone people as a place to enjoy nature in the heart of town. The felling of these mature trees in such a well-known area in Athlone has come as a shock to many people and it is vital that new trees are planted as soon as possible.”
Nationally, the Green Party have contacted Minister Josepha Madigan to explain and stop the spate of tree felling that is being reported around the country at present. Green Party activists around the country, for the last number of weeks, have reported felling of mature trees by city and county councils far above normal levels. This has been done without consultation and against the will of local people and has generated substantial local anger.
Senator Grace O’Sullivan said “We have to see nature as something to weave into our local communities, something to foster and protect. Not something that we can just destroy on a whim. We have just heard from the National Biodiversity Conference that the collapse of nature is happening all around us we need to cherish every bit of it.”
Senator O’Sullivan has written to Minister Madigan as Minister of Heritage to demand a coherent and coordinated national approach to such matters, and legal and scientifically based guidelines for Councils to ensure that Ireland’s natural biodiversity is preserved while community wishes are respected.
Cllr. Louise Heavin - General Election Candidate for Longford Westmeath 