Tree removal in Mayo town park will cost nearly €12k

A councillor has said costs quoted for the removal of fallen trees in a Ballina park are astronomical. 

At the June meeting of Ballina Municipal District, Cllr Annie May Reape submitted a notice of motion calling on Mayo Co Council to advise when the trees in Tom Ruane Park that fell druing Storm Éowyn in January 2025 will be removed and to provide an estimate of the costs involved. 

In a written reply, executive engineer Declan Ginnelly said the full cost of removing the trees will be €10,400, plus VAT at 13.5%, giving a total of €11,804. He said the cost includes removal of exposed tree roots including branch shredding and wood chipping.

Cllr Reape said the cost was "astronomical", but the engineer replied that the cost was reflective of the current market environment, adding: “The cost of working on trees at the moment is excessive but that is actually quite a reasonable quote, considering the amount of trees that have to be removed and the magnitude of work. It is specialist work and so we need a specialist worker to do it.” 

Mr Ginnelly added that there is “a huge amount of requests for tree trimming and removal” and “it is a huge problem here in Ballina and we need funding and machines”, adding: “If we had a programme for five years we would remove all problem trees, but it has to be funded.” 

He further stated that in some estates in the town it would cost €20,000 to remove large trees, adding: “The costs are excessive, the trees are getting bigger with growth and the amount of requests for ongoing works is rising. We don’t have the budget so we have to come up with a plan, even to prune a tree is in excess of €1,000.” 

Cllr Reape suggested that members might allocate some General Municipal Allocation money while Head of the Municipal District Anna Connor said she would look into other funding sources.

Cllr John O’Hara suggested that the Minister for Agriculture be approached to include a grant for farmers to get paid to remove trees.

Cllr Michael Loftus said the council had been asked to draw up a list of dangerous trees in the area following Storm Éowyn and asked: “Where is the funding from government that was to come to that?” 

Cllr Marie Therese Duffy proposed the municipal district “write to the minister to ask what funds are available as significant funding is needed", while Cllr O’Hara proposed writing to to Minister Dara Calleary. This was agreed by members.

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.