By Avril Horan

CALLS have been made for Coillte to carry out a full investigation into dangerous roadside trees across the county.

Galway County Council has agreed a motion, proposed by Cllr Michael Regan (FF), requesting Coillte report back to the Council with the exact locations involved and a clear timeline for their removal.

Cllr Regan has asked that they write to Coillte to identify of all trees located beside roads or near ESB power lines.

“It is important that some action is taken by Galway County Council to drive this forward,” he said at this month’s meeting.

“It is high time we drive this on before the next storm.”

His calls were echoed by Cllr Declan Geraghty (Ind Ire), who stressed the importance of “keeping the pressure on Coillte”, adding that “trees need to be cut back in a big way.”

Elected representatives were told by officials that once local engineers identify a tree as dangerous, this supersedes the need for a planning licence to remove it.

Chief Executive Liam Conneally stated that the Council should be more proactive, and it was agreed the matter would be discussed at the next SPC meeting.

“We should lead out in terms of stakeholder engagement… in terms of how we deal with future storm management,” he said.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.

Pictured: Chief Executive Liam Conneally