Trees taken out

A CONTROVERSIAL tree planting at Moffat’s Annanside playing fields have been removed.

The saplings had been recently planted by resident Roy Anderton-Tyers at the northern end of the old school playing fields, which is owned by Dumfries and Galloway Council.

As he did so without permission, he was later instructed to remove the trees by council officers or risk facing legal action and be invoiced for their removal.

Roy’s actions also sparked anger among some residents as previous plans for trees in the same area were shelved due to a lack of support from the community.

Upper Annandale Football Club, who occupy the southern end of Annanside and are in the process of obtaining a community asset transfer for the site, shared their displeasure about the trees via social media, stating: “We now see the planting of 40+ trees in the middle of the long grass and underground drainage which help stop the pitch from flooding. Tree roots will interfere with such drainage.

“We are aware the specific issues of the trees is being raised at the next local community council meeting in a bid to keep them in situ and would welcome support around continual interference and obstacle in the development of Upper Annandale Football Club.”

However, before Roy could take them out and ahead of the community council meeting, the saplings were removed earlier this week.

But the removal was not done by council staff, as a spokesperson confirmed yesterday, saying: “The trees that were previously planted in and around Annanside have been removed. The removal was not carried out by council staff and the identity of those who did remove the trees is unknown to us.

“No action is therefore required by our council to pursue cost recovery.”