A GREEN Party councillor has said that the cutting down of trees on Department for Infrastructure (DFI) land bounded by the M1, Lady Dixon Park and Dunmurry Lane is “environmental vandalism”.
Cllr Anthony Flynn has written to the Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd to seek answers on why so many trees have been cut down and to find out if any public consultation had taken place ahead of the trees being felled.
When the Andersonstown News visited the site on Thursday, a large area had already been cleared with tree surgeons continuing to cut down trees on the land.
GONE: A large area of forestry has been cleared
“I think this is absolutely incredible to see and it is really concerning,” Cllr Flynn said.
“What I am witnessing is an instance of environmental vandalism by the Department for Infrastructure.
“I cannot believe the brazen attempt by the Department to go in and completely level this land which before, we could see hundreds and hundreds of trees.
“This land is beside the M1 and would have created a sound barrier for local residents in Dunmurry.
ONGOING: Workers continued to cut down trees at the site
“Northern Ireland is the twelfth place in the world for biodiversity loss and what we are seeing here is a significant loss of local biodiversity. There would have been plants and animals that would have relied on this tree cover and also the trees themselves in terms of habitat and what we have seen today is an instance of environmental vandalism.
“It is deeply shocking and deeply worrying. I have written to the Minister to ask why this has happened, what is the justification for cutting down all of these trees in such a short space of time, seemingly without any sort of public consultation and what are his plans to restore this area to its natural beauty because this is completely unacceptable.”
Environment taking an absolute hammering to protect one @NIElectricity line on @deptinfra land near Dunmurry. 80 trees felled in 4 hours and the cutting continues. Overkill on a grand scale? pic.twitter.com/zK6D7S43qe
— Frank Mitchell (@frank_broadcast) September 7, 2022
The Department for Infrastructure have been contacted for comment.
