Insurer barking up wrong tree?

Community members in a Cork town have banded together to postpone the felling of a 250 year old tree.

The beech tree which stands above the Kinsale Outdoor Education Centre was recently deemed dangerous by state insurer IPB and was set to be taken down yesterday, Wednesday. However, community members and local councillors insisted that a ground radar survey must be carried out first and asked that alternatives to the tree’s removal be considered.

Local Green Party representative Marc O Riain wrote on the Kinsale Notice Board Facebook page: “This is not the end of the story. The tree is not yet saved so we continue to ask for your support! Another community action!”

Arborist and one of the leaders of the campaign to save the tree, Hendrik Lepel, said previous surveys had been purely visual and no report exists of the repercussions of felling the long-standing tree.

“I did not hear that some root mapping (electromagnetic radar) or a sonic tomography (soundwave to detect decay) was used in such reports.

“Also, there is no report or survey done on the knock on effect when the tree is gone and the root plate starts to decay,” he said.