Pushing the boundaries

A COUPLE who have lived in their Ashbourne home for 27 years say mature hawthorn trees that were ripped out as part of works on a large residential development have left their home totally exposed to the elements.

Kathleen and Aidan Cullen who live in the end house in a cul-de-sac at Alderbrook are also fearful that their garden wall and shed could collapse if the developer continues work to remove tree roots.

They also claim that this work has been carried out within their property, explaining that because of a stream and bank, when the original developer of their estate built their garden wall, it is 1.7m from their boundary as shown in land registry maps.

The couple have lived in the Alderbrook estate in Ashbourne since it was built and say the row of mature hawthorns were there for over four decades and provided both shelter and privacy.

Works are ongoing on the large 'Coach' residential development on the site beside their home and two weeks ago, a digger moved in and started tearing down the trees, to the dismay of Kathleen and Aidan.

"The removal of the trees has left our home exposed to the risk of weather damage as they were offering us a degree of protection. The fact that the removal has not been completed means that they will return to finish and we are fearful this will result in the wall and shed collapsing," said Kathleen.

They said a foreman told them that shrubs will eventually be planted in place of the trees that were removed but they say that this will not give protection or privacy and want mature trees of a similar size replanted which they say is part of the planning conditions.

"We are here 27 years. We have no objection to the houses, people have to live somewhere, we wouldn't be here if people objected to our houses being built," said Kathleen. However they do object to what has been done, taking out trees which had been there for 45 years.

They also say that early in the development there were days when massive rollers were compacting the soil and their house was subjected to severe vibrations. At that point a tree fell onto their house.

"The first tree was knocked down with these rollers onto our roof and I had a conversation with the foreman regarding the retention of the rest. These trees were also on land belong to us. I was assured then that they would remain as some of these were hawthorn which I believed to be a protected species.

"We have had complete privacy in our rear garden since we purchased the property in 1998 and that has now been completely removed."

As the last house in their cul-de-sac they also have concerns about a proposal to cut through the estate boundary wall beside their home to provide for pedestrian access between the estates. Their house is closest to this proposed access and they feel it will leave them very vulnerable as they get older. A park is planned for the other side of the wall and Kathleen is fearful that it could attract anti-social behaviour in the future.

Ashbourne Sinn Féin councillor Helen Meyer raised the hedgerow and tree removal as part of the Coach development during a discussion on planning enforcement at the March meeting of Meath County Council. She noted that 21 planning new enforcement cases were to be investigated and queried how many were environmental related. "We had a situation in Ashbourne a few days ago on the Coach development where they took down trees that they weren't supposed to in accordance with their planning guidelines, as far as I could see. In fact I spoke to planning and they were told they weren't to but they came in with a bulldozer and took them all out.

"They were to retain the hedgerows and trees as much as possible and I don't see anything as being retained. I saw that in another development a few months ago where they took everything out. I just wonder how closely are we watching that. It is very worrying to see. We are working in Ashbourne on the riparian tree project, finding places to plant native trees and then at the same time we are ripping out these very old trees that we should be doing everything in our power to save."

The developer has been contacted for comment.