Local campaign saves 42 trees in Dublin's Fairview Park

In an online petition signed by almost 13,000 people, locals said: "The very essence and character of Fairview is under threat and we need to protect it. We need to save these trees!"

Marino resident and originator of the online petition Edel Leahy said: "I am delighted that our sole objective of saving the Fairview trees has been achieved. The residents of the local area and wider public who supported our campaign deserve great credit. It shows that "people power" can work when a serious wrong is being proposed."

However, local Councillor Nial Ring said he was not sure many people would be happy with the alternative suggestion.

He said: "What they've come up with now seems to be a knee-jerk reaction.

"Forty-two of the forty-six trees around the kerb will not be touched, but now they're looking at taking away one of the traffic lanes from one of the busiest arteries in the country."

Additional detail from Dublin City Council: …This revised proposal is a response from the City Council to the concerns raised during the statutory consultation period about the removal of these trees and their significance.

In the original proposals the scheme was developed to retain existing traffic capacity and footpath widths through Fairview and so the space needed for the scheme could only be found by the removal of the roadside trees, this has now been revised such that the necessary width for the scheme will be found by removal of a inbound traffic lane over a 350 metre length from the junction of Malahide Road/ Fairview to south of Fairview footbridge,

These amendments have now been made in order to avoid as much as possible the removal of mature kerbside trees. The concerns raised from the public consultation process and the resulting final proposals that will be submitted for council approval have been discussed and agreed with the National Transport Authority.

The main changes are that, one inbound traffic lane over a 350m section of Fairview, from Malahide Road to a point approximately 100 metres south of Fairview Footbridge, will now be removed to provide space for the outbound segregated cycle track. In addition, the footpath on the village side of Fairview, from Poplar Row to Fairview Strand will be reduced in width to a minimum width of 1.8 metres at its narrowest section. This is necessary in order to retain the kerbside trees in Fairview Park between the footbridge and Edges Corner. However four kerbside trees will be lost in order to retain the existing number of lanes on the approach to Edges corner. Inbound cyclists will be provided with a segregated cycle track between the two rows of trees.

These changes will result in some reduction in traffic capacity in the inbound direction; however this will facilitate retention of 42 of the 46 roadside trees. The number of traffic lanes from south of Fairview Footbridge will remain the same as present.

These proposals allow the outbound cycle lane to be fully segregated from Annesley Bridge to Malahide Road on the village side of Fairview and a segregated inbound cycle track between the existing two rows of trees along Fairview Park as well as the retention of all parking in Fairview Village. The rest of the scheme remains the same including the proposed esplanade within the park and the Tolka Valley Greenway.