Concerns over timing of storm-damaged tree felling

Keep Willaston Field Green Community Group has raised concerns about tree felling

Residents living near a playing field the local council has applied to use as a building compound have raised concerns over plans to fell 39 trees in the area.

Douglas Council said the move to cut down trees in the park on Ballanard Road was after an assessment by the forestry directorate found storm damage had left them structurally unsafe.

The authority is set to re-submit its plans to use the park as a temporary compound during the refurbishment of social housing on the Willaston Estate.

But Michael Booth of the Keep Willaston Field Green Community Group said a "small minority" of the trees were deemed unsafe and residents feared it was the "first step" in the removal of the area's greenery.

Some 39 trees are set to be cut down in a local playing field

"We are not contesting the removal of any individual trees which have been thoroughly assessed as being a safety hazard," Mr Booth told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

However, he said the surveyors detailed notes showed out of the 39 trees earmarked to be felled, a recommendation that no further action should be taken was noted against 25.

The timing of the removal of the trees, along with the compound plans was "a little bit too coincidental", which the group saw as "fairly suspicious", he added.

Part of the field is proposed to be used for a compound amid refurbishment of social housing

In a statement local authority said, following consultation with the Department for Environment, Food and Agriculture (Defa), a number of trees would need to be removed due to storm damage caused by other trees falling down.

It said none were being removed to accommodate the compound, and the move was "essential for public safety".

The site had been chosen for the temporary compound to "minimise disruption to residents and reduce construction traffic through residential streets", the council said.

A "substantial" portion of the playing field would remain accessible to the public," and the area was "already well served" by a number of other green spaces", it added.