Clonmel Borough District to prepare a formal tree strategy for the town

Members and officials of Clonmel Borough District have supported the introduction of a formal tree strategy for the town.
Sinead Carr, District Manager said there was merit in doing a tree strategy for the town and such a plan was needed going forward.
She told members that there was a significant level of planting every year.
ERIC RYAN
Sinead Carr praised the work carried out by Eric Ryan, who had a genuine love and appreciation of trees, and the team involved and said up to 200 trees were planted every year.
She said the authority was one of the few, if not one of the only towns in the country of its size, to be actively tree planting to such an extent. The District Manager accepted that in the current climate the authority should and could be doing a lot more and said that she was not adverse to looking at developing a tree strategy for the town in 2022 (budget dependent) and looking also at increasing the number of trees planted given their importance in assisting in addressing climate challenges.
She believed that the tree strategy should advise on the appropriate type of trees to plant in different locations and also advise on tree pruning activity.
Sinead Carr said the type of the trees to be planted needed to be looked and they would look at proposals for the most appropriate trees that could be planted.
Cllr Pat English said that not only should Clonmel have a tree strategy but that the whole county should have one.
MAINTENANCE
Cllr Siobhán Ambrose said there was a huge volume of trees in the town.
The council, she said, should be pruning them on a regular basis.
She paid tribute to Eric Ryan and the work of all the staff involved in the planting of trees and tree maintenance in the town.
Mayor Cllr Michael Murphy also supported the idea of a formal tree strategy for the town.
IMPLEMENTATION
He said it would be important to develop a tree strategy for Clonmel, framing it, adopting it and more importantly implementing such a strategy.
“We have a lot of trees around Clonmel, those same trees they underpin our town’s character, our identity and I think a tree strategy would certainly create an awareness around our trees.”
He added that a tree strategy could work in conjunction with a biodiversity plan and that it would lend itself to greater continuity across the district.