Cllr Alan Cheevers has blasted plans to fell mature conifers in Merlin Park Woods, citing concerns over the project’s financial transparency and potential negative impacts on local residents and hospital staff.
This follows a report in last week’s Advertiser that the Friends of Merlin Woods group were urging Galway City Council to reconsider plans to fell the trees next month following damage from Storm Éowyn in January 2025, due to fears that it might affect the local red squirrel population.
Speaking to this publication this week, however, Cllr Cheevers (FF ) expressed concerns over the methods used to pay the contractor for the project and called for greater transparency over the issue.
“We were told at the meeting the last day that there would be between five and six thousand tonnes of timber taken out of that, and... that Euroforest – the crowd who got the contract- would actually get all that timber as payment,” he said.
“I find this a very strange situation – it’s like going into a market and saying, ‘I’ll give you two hens if you give me a dozen eggs’. There’s a procurement process - what price proposal was done? How can they put a price proposal on a job if they’re only going to exchange the timber for the price?
“This whole monetary payment to the contractor from the council is very vague and in my view, it doesn’t stack up.”
Cllr Cheevers also said that the project would likely have a negative impact on local residents and staff in University Hospital Galway due to the continued presence of heavy machinery.
The councillor also criticised Galway City Council’s communication over the planned project and questioned whether there had been much consultation with the HSE due to concerns that it would block off the main entrance used by staff at the hospital.
“The one group that are seriously going to be discommoded with this contract are the Merlin Lane residents. At the end of the day Merlin Lane is a laneway more than a road and there’s very heavy duty vehicles going to be going down there and down there for three months,” Cllr Cheevers said.
“The reality is, is that Galway City Council sent out a flyer to the doors, talking about the actual project – what they were going to be doing from September, October, November up until Christmas. But they didn’t have any plan in relation to the inconvenience it was going to cause the residents.
“They outlined no health and safety plan to them from the outset, they didn’t give them any times in relation to roughly when this work was going to be happening, the impact it would have on the road surfaces... The big problem with Galway City Council is communication is dreadful”
Galway City Council was approached for comment in relation to both Cllr Cheevers’ statements and details included in last week’s report in the Advertiser, highlighting concerns from local groups that the felling of the trees would negatively impact biodiversity - particularly the red squirrel population.
In response to last week’s report, a spokesperson said, “Some standing conifers remain close to public paths, and Galway City Council sought expert advice from an independent arborist on the feasibility of retaining them. However, due to a number of factors, the clearance works will leave these trees exposed and weakened, meaning they will need to be removed for public safety reasons.
“At an early stage of the project, Galway City Council engaged with Dr Colin Lawton of the University of Galway’s Zoology Department... His support for the replanting works and invaluable advice has directly influenced the harvest plan, including decisions relating to tree retention, post-harvest planting and a supplementary squirrel feeding programme. The areas of retained trees will provide continuous canopy cover for the squirrel population and other wildlife in the woods.”
In response to the comments made by Cllr Cheevers in this article, the spokesperson said; “Galway City Council have met the residents of Merlin Lane and Cllr Cheevers last week and clear commitments were given to address their concerns. The amended draft traffic management plan will be presented to residents.
“At the meeting it was agreed that vehicular movements would be restricted to between the hours of 9:30am and 4:30pm and further restrictions include 5 vehicular movements per day, to avoid traffic congestion at peak hours.
“The vehicles will be accessing the woodland from the main lane that runs along the east boundary of the woodlands. This is one of the main vehicular accesses used by Galway City Council. The vehicles will only traverse the first 200m of this lane.”
The council also said they did not agree with Cllr Cheevers’ statement that their communication was “dreadful.”
The spokesperson said, “We contacted Friends of Merlin Woods in March and the residents in July and held public workshops for the residents held in July also. The HSE were formally notified in July. Cllr Cheevers requested an information sharing meeting about the project. On foot of that request EuroForest sent an invitation to all Councillors to attend a meeting on the 22 July at Merlin Woods. None of the Councillors attended this meeting.
The council also said that a proper procurement process was followed and that it was being done on a “cost-neutral” bases, meaning there would be no payment to the contractor.
