Backlash to parish’s wish to remove tree in Trinity Square

The statement follows comments by St Peter Port constable Dennis Le Moignan that the parish would like to see the large London plane tree at the southern corner of Trinity Square removed, as it was damaging the road and the historic pump.

There has been a strong public reaction to the comments, with the Guernsey Press story attracting nearly 200 comments on the newspaper’s Facebook page. Most of the commenters were against the idea.

The story also caught the notice of Guernsey Trees for Life, which works to promote trees in Guernsey.

Committee member Colin Dodd said the charity opposed any action to remove any of the iconic and healthy trees in the square, unless evidence can be provided that they are a danger to the public and at imminent risk of falling down.

He added that the charity considers that the trees were arguably some of the most visually important individual trees in Guernsey.

‘Trees are a key component of our landscape, urban or rural, and the decision to remove them should never be taken lightly,’ he said.

‘There has been a definite erosion, especially in recent years, of the urban tree population in and around St Peter Port. These trees in Trinity Square play a very important role in the Town landscape, with their visual amenity value, the contribution they make to reduce air pollution as well as their summer shade value.’

The tree is on States-owned land and a spokesperson had previously said they were working with the parish to look at how to manage the tree.

Despite a barrage of negative emails, Mr Le Moignan said he was standing by his position that the tree needed to be removed and replaced with a smaller tree.

‘Most people don’t know the problems it is causing,’ he said.

‘The drain and road is collapsing. It’s causing damage to the pump.’

He said many people had been saying he must hate trees.

‘But I love trees,’ he said.

‘They are beautiful. But a lot of them were planted many years ago, with no thought about the problems they would cause when they get older.’

There are three trees in the square, but the parish is only concerned with the one damaging the pump. However, all three are causing damage to the road.

The London plane tree is more than 20 metres tall and 140 years old. It could live for hundreds of years.