GROUVILLE residents have expressed disappointment after trees along a green lane were felled without warning.
Parishioners have written to Grouville Constable Mark Labey to ask why the 11 trees were taken down on Rue de Marais à la Cocque.
A post on the Parish of Grouville Facebook page written by the administration described the decision as ‘regrettable’, but added that a number of trees were originally lost through disease and that another had damaged a power line earlier this year.
‘The advice from the JEC, following consultation with a tree surgeon, was that there was a significant danger, if another storm blew, that some or all of the remaining trees could come down on the power lines opposite the road,’ the post said.
‘After much deliberation, it was regrettably decided to fell the remaining trees.’
The parish said that it intended to replace the lost trees with 17 new ones and a double hedgerow.
A letter written to the Constable by Peter Hargreaves and Mark Dawson, on behalf of the Environmental Grouville group – which has over 470 members on Facebook – said that the explanation for the felling ‘generated some scepticism’.
‘There is a concern that the felling took place at a time when legislation is in the pipeline to increase the protections afforded to Island trees. Correspondence from the former Environment Minister expected such legislation to be in place by the end of 2021, but it hasn’t been brought in yet,’ the group’s message said. ‘It is certainly to be hoped that under the new Council of Ministers, environmental legislation will go to the top not bottom of the pile of legal drafting. It raises the question whether felling in advance of the new legislation was appropriate. What sort of example does it set to private landowners?’ the letter added.
The authors argued that a ‘historical view’ should have been taken by the parish and that effort should have been put into ‘preserving not taking down trees which are 20 or 30 years old’.
Mr Hargreaves, on behalf of the group, said that they would have liked to have been notified in advance.
‘This would have given us time to change the course of action if needed. It is a complex issue which raises many questions. Why were the power lines there anyway? Who paid for it? What example does this set? All these questions needed to be asked of the parish,’ he said.
The environmental group has asked to meet the Constable to discuss the decision and to learn more about when the replanting would take place and what can be done to prevent a similar incident occurring in the future.
