Consultation deep-dive: tree-loss on the Roseburn Path
- savetheroseburnpat
- Oct 12
- 2 min read
There are thousands of pages of information provided with the Consultation, not including the documents further referred to - the national policies, reports etc.
Most people probably don’t have the time or means to read all these documents, so we’re doing a series of deep dives into key topics to help make sense of it all. The first of these is on tree loss.
Tree loss on the Roseburn Path
The Council says they would like to retain 70% of trees on the Roseburn Path, although they accept that “all trees within a 3 metre off-set from the edge of the tram rail and 1 metre from the edge of the active travel path would be removed. As a result, ecology would be impacted by a tram route on the Roseburn Path.”
Is that 70% figure realistic? The consultation documents show that:
- the tree “survey” was done from a desk with some “walkovers”. “A full tree survey would be required” to do a proper design and make any meaningful statement about retaining trees.
- noise mitigation will be needed for all properties along the path. This would “result in the loss of existing vegetation along the actual boundary for construction access” but the Council has not included this in its designs, plans or costing. The documents providing background to the Tram Bill in 2005 showed that approx 2.5km of noise mitigation would be needed, meaning that all hedging and trees along the edge of path will need to go.
- The slopes of the path "are too steep to be compliant with current design codes.” Design codes exist to ensure the safety and functionality of infrastructure, and to protect public health and well-being so we hope they will be complied with! To comply, much of the vegetation on the slopes would be lost to allow for appropriate works, described in the Geotechnical report as “significant engineering works”. Again, these have not been planned or costed.
- Network Rail restrictions will apply but have also not been considered. Once these are taken into account, “the geometry of the narrow corridor, steep slopes and tall trees may require the removal or trimming of a large number of trees”
- Network Rail requirements also mean that a number of species are considered operational risk due to leaf fall “the trees that Network Rail consider to be high risk leaf fall species include sycamore (found extensively within the Roseburn corridor) lime trees and ash)”
Once deciduous trees are removed, there may not be many left. But the Council hasn’t taken this into account because it hasn't done a proper tree survey! It is clear the claim to retain 70% of existing trees has been made without surveying the trees properly, without considering engineering works which will require removal of trees, and without allowing for the trees that will have to be removed for noise mitigation along virtually the entire route of the Roseburn Path.
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