Launched by the Green Party, the 'Urban Tree Protection and Sites Locally Important for Ecology Bill 2023' aims to protect urban areas and nature sites without comprising on housing and local infrastructure.
Speaking as he launched the new Bill today, 03 May, Green Party representative Steven Matthews TD said: "For many of us, being able to walk around our parks and green spaces was a lifeline and the only thing that kept us sane during the pandemic. We rediscovered the importance of nature locally. This Bill puts power back into the hands of local communities, to decide what is important locally, so that we don't lose these precious sites.
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"What this means practically is that anybody in the community can request that their local Council protects a certain local nature site. The Council may then prohibit the wilful destruction of the site and landowners may have to enter into an agreement with the planning authority to properly manage the site."
Under the Bill, communities will be given the power to help protect local nature areas, prioritise treatment and management of trees, and change the tree preservation order process.
Deputy Matthews added: "There are only 164 TPOs in force in Ireland relating to areas or individual trees. Over a quarter of these relate to Wicklow alone and only 16 of the 31 Local Authorities have a record of TPOs. At the same time, Local Authorities have been cutting down thousands of trees every year. This trend is in the wrong direction for what we are scientifically and legally required to do. International and EU laws mean that we are legally required to increase our green urban areas. This Bill is a step in that direction. This Bill will allow us to protect trees based on their climate, flood risk and air quality benefits, rather than the current narrow definition of 'amenity value'."
