A large crowd of locals and environmental activists gathered in Letterkenny to call for the protection of a 90-year-old oak tree.
It’s after it was revealed that a planned new extended footpath and cycle path in Ballyraine would lead to the historic landmark being chopped down.
Despite recent appeals from locals to build the path around the tree rather than chopping it down, Donegal County Council has remained resolute in their commitment to the existing plan.
In response to public outcry and concerns raised by An Taisce’s Local Donegal Association, the Council said that because the public consultation process for the project all the way back in 2020 had passed without any objections, they would proceed as planned:
“…statutory consent through the Part VIII planning process was received for this project in 2020. Full public consultation was carried out as part of this process. No submission was received in respect to the oak tree in question or other trees within the works area.”
With plans to saw the tree down remaining in place, locals responded by gathering en masse to show their desire to keep the Ballyraine landmark where it is.
A petition calling for the tree to be saved has also gained momentum, with over 400 additional signatures being added in the last 24 hours.
You can view that petition here: https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-removal-of-the-historic-sessile-oak-tree-in-ballyraine
