Trees or no trees?

A DISCUSSION about what the future holds for the trees in front of Lochmaben’s war memorial was held on Friday.

The large towering trees have been a cause of concern for residents, especially due to how close they are to the war memorial.

There’s fears that they could fall in future storms and cause damage to the memorial and the High Street.

Annandale North ward officer Scott McMeeken this week updated members of the community council about the plans.

He said: “The council has sent out a couple of tree specialists to go and have a look because we are concerned it is having an impact on the structural integrity of the memorial and also the height of the trees. “If they keep growing then it’s going to become more of a problem.”

Despite the initial reports from the specialists saying the trees weren’t an “immediate danger” there was “certainly an increased risk” in the future.

Mr McMeeken added: “This is because of future storms, windy weather, the trees’ location to the High Street and the proximity to the war memorial.

“We had a meeting a few weeks ago with the community council to see if there was an opinion formed about the matter.

“We’ve decided that the trees are a problem and we need to deal with it by ultimately cutting them down.

“The decision hasn’t been taken yet but that’s certainly the direction of travel we think we’re going.

“The risk is significant as it could get worse. We’d like to deal with the matter before the winter time.”

Friendly community drop-in sessions will be held over the next few weeks with one today (Friday) at Lochmaben Library in the town hall between 10 am to 12 pm.

Mr McMeeken added: “We will listen to the community about it, whether they are for or against the trees being cut down.”

When asked what would the trees be replaced with, he responded: “We’re not settled with what we’d put in place of the trees. The community would be asked.

“It could be benches or something we could use from the cut down trees.”

Resident Carol Rogerson added: “It could be a carving with the remaining tree stump.

“The idea is to get the trees away from the memorial. They are far too close.”