Bettystown volunteers "devastated" after vandals destroy Є5000 worth of newly planted trees

Volunteers in Bettystown have been left devastated after callous vandals destroyed over Є5000 worth of newly planted trees and a water irrigation system on the Tara Road.

Volunteers in Bettystown Tidy Towns were distraught this morning when they discovered the bio diverse friendly tree lined avenue and water irrigation system they worked tirelessly over the last few months on had been destroyed.

Ten trees including Native Crab Apple Trees and Whitebeam Trees were snapped and thrown into a nearby stream causing an estimated Є5000 worth of damage.

Bettystown Tidy Towns Chairperson, Liam Keane says it is "soul destroying" for volunteers.

"I couldn't believe it when someone sent me a picture this morning" said Liam.

"Ten of the trees have been damaged and the irrigation system is damaged, they are fully standard trees that cost Є300 each so to replace them will cost thousands ," he added.

"Volunteers have worked so hard on this and to see a big swathe of it being destroyed in one foul swoop is very disheartening.

" A lot of the volunteers were so distraught over it."

"We wanted a nice environment for everyone to use because it's a walking path, it's a cycle path and we want to develop it more and more.

"It's on the route for Darkness into Light and now for the walk next month you are going to have damaged trees to look it."

The Bettystown Tidy Towns Chairperson says he is hopeful those responsible will be brought to justice.

"We have never had anything like this before, we don't know where it has come from or why it has happened to us," said Liam.

"It would have taken a lot of effort to break these trees, they are large trees, they have been totally snapped and thrown across the stream into the ajoining fields," he added. "It took a strong person to do this.

"We are trying to get a timeline on it, the Gards have been on site and we are trying to get CCTV footage from the schools to see if it can be determined who was on the road and what activity was going on.

"Hopefully we can find out who caused this and the Gards can take it from there then."

Liam outlines the work that has gone into improving the Tara Road.

"The Tara road is a new road that was opened two or three years ago by the council as a bypass of village and branching off that is the education campus," he said.

"Originally the council tried to put in trees but they didn't take so we have been replacing those trees and adding more more to create a 1km long tree lined avenue affect," added Liam.

"It enhances biodiversity, it looks good, it has a nice visual impact as you enter the village.

"We have planted over 50 trees there, we've also planted 1000 Native Hedge Saplings and we have created a mini forest all to help biodiversity in the area.

"Along the west side of the road there is a stream and we connected an irrigation system that would go to every tree along the road. Then we put a pump into the stream that pumps the water out of the stream to water the trees, not using tap water, using the natural resources.

"The water in that stream is run off from the local stream, it's high in nutrients and it ultimately ends up flowing onto the beach and into the sea which is only polluting it. This is a way of filtering the water."

A huge amount of time and effort has gone into the plans as the tidy towns chairperson explains:

"We have been planning the year last year and we have been working on it for months on end. The tree lined avenue will finish at the sculpture "Splash" that was installed three years ago that was created by Linda Brunker.

" Each of the roundabouts along the road has been planted with a tree in the centre of each one and then just off the road there is a garden we have created with 300 perinnial pollinator friendly plants and that is just part of the project that we are finishing off at the moment."

Liam says the group has been inundated with support from the community since the news broke.

"Businesses have come forward saying we will help you out which is great but is terrible in one way because could have put into another project for the community.

"Lidl in Bettystown have offered to host a bucket collection at their tills and that will be up and running in a couple of days. Lidl staff were out helping us last Saturday too.

"We don't want this to get the better of us. People in the community have been urging us to plant twice as many trees, their feeling is we won't let this get us down.

"We will just have to pick ourselves back up and go again."

Earlier this year Meath County Council recognised and congratulated Bettystown Tidy Towns for all the hours they volunteered in 2023 to help their community.

Bettystown Tidy Towns gave up 2,830 hours of their time last year carrying out daily litter picks and installing beach recycling and cigarette butt bins as well as organising coastal education days in collaboration with local businesses and schools.

2023 was a successful year for the community group having secured their first Green Flag Award in the spring and receiving the Tourism Special Recognition Award at the Ocean Hero Awards in December.

To make a donation to Bettystown Tidy Towns to replace the vandalised trees, click here