Bus route chestnut tree is pruned

By Angie Brown
BBC Scotland news website, Edinburgh and East reporter

Edinburgh City Council deemed the chestnut tree unsafe

A 150-year-old chestnut tree at the centre of a row over pruning to make way for a temporary bus route has had part of its trunk chopped down.

Edinburgh City Council used powers under section 91 of the Road Scotland Act after it was deemed dangerous.

Tree surgeons found a 3ft crack in the main body of the tree.

The council wants to prune dozens of trees along Landsdowne Crescent to make way for buses diverted during tram works, in nearby Haymarket.

Residents are to be consulted about another crack in the tree before the rest is chopped down.

The trees grow in a private garden owned by residents from Grosvenor Crescent and Landsdowne Crescent.

Plans to cut back dozens of trees have been stalled by residents over the last few weeks. A meeting between them and officials is due to take place next week.

Former judge Lord McCluskey, who lives in Landsdowne Crescent, told BBC the Scotland news website he was sad to see the tree cut, but was satisfied it had become a danger.

He said: "When I was shown the split, it became absolutely clear that a branch weighing several tonnes could collapse at any minute.

"Under the circumstances it was felt the sensible thing to do was to bring it down as, it was inevitable, there was no shadow of a doubt it was an imminent and immediate danger.

A 3ft split was found in the main body of the chestnut tree

"The split was black, rotten and full of slugs and when the tree surgeon put his hand into it, it broke in half.

Lord McCluskey added: "The council never bothered about the trees until it needed to pass buses through the street, but whatever the interests were, I have no doubt they took the right decision as far as the chestnut tree is concerned."

An Edinburgh City Council spokeswoman said it had been agreed with Lansdowne Crescent residents that branches requiring pruning would be marked out and allow safe passage for buses during the diversion.

"During this process, the external tree surgeon identified serious problems with the condition of a chestnut tree," said the spokeswoman.

"Our own tree expert was brought in and we consulted with some local residents on the issue who agreed the offending branch should be removed immediately for safety reasons."

The council stressed that process was being carried out separately from the pruning, which would not go ahead without consultation with local residents.