Protection order in place after two trees damaged

A tree protection order has been issued to the owner of 15 trees after damage to the root systems of two trees.

The States of Guernsey said the damage to the trees in St Sampson was reported to the Development and Planning Authority (DPA) on Monday.

The order makes it an offence to cut down, lop, top, prune, cut or compact the roots or the ground level of the root area, uproot, wilfully damage or wilfully destroy these trees without planning permission.

The States said the order came into effect on Tuesday and initially would apply for six months.

Deputy Neil Inder, President of the DPA, said they had to protect Guernsey's trees, green spaces and biodiversity.

"As part of the Focussed Review of the Island Development Plan, the developer of the site was made aware around eight weeks ago that the stand of poplars was likely to be subject to a Protection Order when the policy letter came to the States in the autumn," he said.

Inder said photos of the damage were sent to him at 20:00 BST on Monday and the order was put in place less then 24 hours later.

He added: "The damage to the root base of the identified stand was significant, a track machine had scraped the base of some of the trees exposing the roots and destroying others.

"Damaged in spring, as the trees were coming into leaf would have a detrimental effect on this stand of poplar."

Inder said: "The authority is extremely grateful to the member of public who notified the authority and in equal measure disappointed by the activities of the developer."

He added "some 2,000 trees" were lost during Storm Goretti and many were lost in Storm Ciaran.

"Our trees deserve better, and I know I speak for the majority of islanders who find this activity disappointing, if not cynical," he said.

He added: "Having reviewed the Guidance on Tree Protection, although effective in this instance, I'm not convinced that it is strong enough to protect against developer adventures.

"Our authority will focus on this matter and work with our charitable partners to ensure this nonsense doesn't happen again."

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