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news
Blessington Road, Naas (Google Maps)Plan to cut down 140 trees for cycle lane to new housing development sparks debate
Councillors, property developers and residents are discussing plans to cut down 140 trees adjacent to a new housing development in order to make space for cycling infrastructure.
The debate comes as a survey has been launched into the condition of the trees "with a view to their protection" as one councillor voiced concerns from residents who feel "it is a lot of trees to take down" and another argued that while cycling infrastructure is important for reducing pollution, "trees do the same thing".
However, a third councillor, Bill Clear, argued the infrastructure is necessary to offer future residents of the 400-property housing development in Naas, County Kildare, safe cycling infrastructure.
Kildare Now reports a meeting will take place between the council and developer Ballymore Homes to "see what if any alternatives may be available to resolve the conflict between the cycle track proposal and retaining the trees."
> Angry residents threaten to chain themselves to trees over cycle lane
Kildare County Council said the issue relates to the potential for construction of the cycle lane to compromise the poplar root systems, causing safety concerns about falling trees.
One possible solution raised by council official Stephen Deegan is for the trees to be replaced at a later date by planting mature trees, but he stressed any decision would have to be made following discussion with the developer.
It is to this backdrop that residents from a local association have urged others to email the council and ask for the trees to be kept.
In a statement to Kildare Now, Ballymore Group said it is "currently engaging closely with Kildare County Council on delivering infrastructure as part of the creation of a mixed-use development including nearly 400 residential units on a 22-hectare site between Blessington Road and Tipper Road in Naas. All construction is within the grant of planning issued by Kildare County Council on February 15, 2017."
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
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14 comments
400 houses, that's about 50 acres of land. But it's obviously the cycle lane that's the problem...
Ands that's probably without adequate parking for 2/3/4 car households (or maybe even for single car households)
Even if the cycle lane provided easy, safe, fast access to town, most folks will still drive, I fear.
If anyone believes that they want to cut down the trees to provide a cycle lane, I've got a partly used PM to sell you..... no, the trees are coming down so residents of the new estate will have somewhere to park their cars. Yes, they will paint the area with a dashed white line (or whatever they use in Ireland to mean "you can park here") and mark their little chart with a "Cycling lane: job done" tick.
Leave the trees and build the lane: if its needed, somewhere else.
No trees were harmed in the making of this cycle lane in Offaly, the next County over from Kildare...and it WILL NOT BE USED FOR PARKING...oh wait...
a promotional image (local press) from the local Edenderry council "celebrating" the installation of some new cycle lanes...
Fortunately, we're not concerned as it's in a foreign country
Perhaps the single photo of the road is misleading, but it looks plenty wide enough to accommodate two lanes of traffic and a decent segregated cycle lane.
Trees always used to be good for objecting to development, their root system is about as wide as the height of the tree and teh main root system is somewhere around a foot below the surface.
The solution in this case might simply be to use appropriate construction techniques, contrary to unpopular opinions here, bikes don't produce excessive load, so the appropriate surface materials laid with care should not cause too much problem, especially in view of the reasonably percentage of the tree root system a cycle path is likely to take up - so trees are only at risk from unsympathetic developers and incompetent contractors.
But the two problems youll get are in the Autumn/Winter the leaf fall, creates a horrendous mulch thats slippy enough when its wet before it freezes, and the root system will eventually just break enough of the ground the path is laid on, and they never do construct them deep enough because "bikes dont produce excessive load" the path surface then breaks up into a sequence of ruts and potholes...hidden by the same leaf mulch in Autumn/Winter.
trees can be replanted to create landscaping,but they arent suitable to border cycling paths imo.
Yep - agree with both. Cycling gets more tree issues because it's literally marginal - either on the margins of roads where the camber sends the crud, or under the trees planted on verge if on "shared space". The otherwise excellent facilities reusing old railway lines are often subject to this also because they feature cuttings and "beautiful green space". Which is nice but it can impose a heavy maintenance cost. (Only - because these are seen as recreational not transport - we don't bother mostly. )
Obviously they don't have trees in NL, unlike the UK they hate them (https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2019/11/13/road-versus-tree-the-tree-...). Plus any leaves would naturally blow away because its flat, otherwise I'd suggest just copying what they do there.
Why it's an issue here is we reach for the chainsaw too often for "strategic transport" (obviously this doesn't include cycling or walking) or "major developments".
Build fewer houses so there is not need to compromise on appropriate infrastructure to service them?
A bit like the old conundrum of what to do when you see an endangered animal eating an endangered plant!
Funny, but the number of trees they cut down for road schemes or HS2 never seem to be a barrier to "progress".
Nor indeed to new 400-property housing developments.
Yeah, a few less houses should sort it.
If they planned the cycle lanes in with the same software to maximise profits it would have easily fit in...