THE Environment Minister is refusing to back down on controversial plans for tree legislation after hundreds were damaged or destroyed during Storm Ciarán.
Deputy Jonathan Renouf (pictured, right) said that laws to regulate tree-felling were “as relevant, if not more relevant” now than before hurricane-strength winds tore through the Island, bringing down hundreds of trees.
The plans, which govern the chopping down and pruning of trees, were met with protest from landowners and tree surgeons when first lodged earlier this year, and have been subsequently altered by Deputy Renouf, with a debate on the issue delayed multiple times.
Even before the storm hit, a former Bailiff, Deputy Sir Philip Bailhache, criticised the legislation and lodged a proposal to repeal the relevant part of the Planning and Building law to leave landowners free to carry out work on trees without needing planning permission.
In a letter to the JEP this week, one Islander said he hoped “common sense will prevail and that the intrusive and ill-thought-out legislation to ‘protect’ trees will not be enacted into law” in light of the storm damage.
William Simpson wrote: “Otherwise, the resulting new layers of needless bureaucracy will add even more years and a great deal of additional expense to the problem while delaying the necessary remedial work.”
Responding to the letter, Deputy Renouf said: “The one thing the storm showed beyond any doubt is how passionately people feel about trees and what an important part they are of our shared natural heritage.”
He added: “That emphasises the need to consider work on trees, not just on private property, but also what the community might feel about those trees, and that is the essential point of the legislation that I’m proposing to bring forward. This law is as relevant, if not more relevant, now.
“The key point is to get the balance right and make sure that the resulting regulation is not overly intrusive and that it does not create too much bureaucracy while achieving what it needs to achieve with the lightest touch possible, which is much harder than just establishing the basic
principle. That balance of what work you exempt, and how you control what you control, is what we’re still working on and will continue to work on.”
Deputy Renouf said that the storm and its damage to the natural environment had not yet “played into” conversations around drafting the law.
“We will return to those thoughts and factor in the situation but the storm does not change the fundamental principle of the need to have some control of the work on trees,” Deputy Renouf continued. “If anything, it strengthens it.
“I’m not backing down on the basic point but I am prepared to consider all the levels of details on it.”
The tree legislation was passed in principle by the previous States Assembly, with Deputy Renouf inheriting it when he became minister following last year’s general election.
The first version of details to the law proposed by Deputy Renouf in March was met with widespread criticism,
prompting the minister to extend the consultation on the draft and come back with a second version.
Following the debate on Deputy Bailhache’s proposition in December, Deputy Renouf will bring his proposals to the States Assembly in the new year.
