Residents of Bayside and Sutton Park in north Dublin are fighting a rearguard action to prevent Fingal County Council's parks department felling mature roadside trees in their estates this winter.
Up to 77 trees, including cherry, whitebeam and sycamore, are due to be felled because the council claims they are either decayed, blocking light, breaking up footpaths or interfering with lamp standards.
Local residents were shocked when 25 mature trees in Bayside were felled three years ago without any prior consultation and formed the Bayside Tree Preservation Association to fight plans to fell any more trees in the area.
Chairman John Haughton, a retired Dublin City Council planner and founder member of Forest Friends Ireland, said the trees had all been planted when the housing estates were built by developers Wates nearly 40 years ago.
The main species is sycamore, but the mix of trees include cherry, silver birch, maple, rowan, hornbeam and whitebeam, he said. "When they are in full bloom, there's no housing estate in Dublin that looks as good," he said.
For many residents, one of the main reasons why they bought houses was because of the sylvan setting of the estate. "The trees give it a special character, and a rolling programme of tree felling would destroy this character."
Mr Haughton said all of the trees planted in 1968 had survived "until the council started felling them". Apart from their amenity value, the trees "store carbon and give us oxygen, and help to reduce pollution and global warming".
In a report last month, the council said it was necessary to replace all trees standing on verges of less than two metres on a phased basis, or else it "will likely be forced to clear-fell large parts of Bayside in 10-15 years time".
Parks superintendent Michael Lynch told councillors that the older trees were felled either for safety reasons or to thin out densely-treed areas and following requests from residents.
The plan is to be considered by the county council's Malahide-Howth area committee at Baldoyle Library next Tuesday. Members of the tree preservation association are to stage a protest.
The county council has already planted 22 new trees in Bayside. "Replacement trees will be of a much smaller species more suitable to the location," its parks department said in a report.
But Mr Haughton said several of these "tiny trees" had died.
