Vegetation management & concrete
THE CAMPAIGN led by residents in Maxwell Park to stop Network Rail chopping down sycamore trees, has severely lopped the company's plans.
Network Rail had planned a '
vegetation management
' strategy which included cutting all the trees along the track which runs parallel with Darnley Road. The company claimed that leaves on the tracks were a serious health and safety risk.
One resident opposed to the Network Rail plans is engineer James McLaughlin (55). He commented, 'This is a conservation area and should not be touched. They don't have any right to cut these trees down. There is another option which would not require the destruction of these trees if only Network Rail would listen.'
Maxwell Park Councillor Alan Rodger said, 'This is conservation area, but there is nothing in the legislation to stop Network Rail from cutting down the trees. There are also tree preservation orders, but unfortunately none of them are applicable to those trees.'
A spokesperson for Scottish Natural Heritage also confirmed, 'While the area is a conservation area, that only applies to buildings, it's not related to the wildlife. Basically there is little that can be done to prevent the company from cutting down the trees. Firstly, it's their land, and secondly there is the overriding issue of health and safety which supersedes everything.'
A Network Rail Spokesperson said, 'We have had 10 incidents of trains being disrupted by falling leaves so you can understand why we have to cut the trees back. Our main concern is the safety of our passengers and trains. We will be sending out detailed letters to all the residents to describe the precise nature of the work, we intend to carry out.'
STOP PRESS
Democracy has been cast into a concrete straitjacket in Govan.The residents who fought against a concrete factory being located at the bottom of their road in Barfilian Drive, have lost the final battle. As the LOCAL NEWS went to press, the protesters were told that the Scottish Executive's Reporter's Inquiry has allowed the plant to go ahead. Glasgow City Council planning authority supported the residents and rejected trie plans. But the company, Patersons of Greenoakhills Ltd, won on appeal.