A Rosyth woman is angered that trees have been axed outside her home as part of work for the new Forth road bridge.
Maralyn Donnelly, of Park Lea, lives near the A90/M90 motorway and said people living in her street received a letter from BEAR Scotland to state it might be cutting some trees to facilitate the Forth crossing but that tree felling has already taken place.
Ms Donnelly told The Courier a meeting will take place with Transport Scotland in a bid to raise residents’ concerns.
“Two weeks after receiving the letter around 10 trees were axed, with no further notice, leaving a large gap in the trees which shield us from the noise, dust and fumes of the motorway,” she said. “Further to this we discovered that most of the trees will be cut down in early summer, with no plans to replace them with screening of any kind.
“We are told that the trees will be replaced eventually and in 15 years, when they are mature, they will form a filter for noise. I think this is asking too much of us, to wait 15 years plus put up with the noise and inconvenience.
“We are also informed that Transport Scotland are investigating the feasibility of providing temporary screening. It is essential to have adequate screening erected to replace the protection that we get from the trees and bushes. I feel that Transport Scotland are riding roughshod over the wishes and needs of many residents living on both sides of the River Forth.
“In addition there are plans to place a huge gantry with flashing lights about 30 metres from our houses. Remember, these houses will have no screening to reduce these unwelcome illuminations at night or block out any noise, fumes or vibrations from traffic, including buses.
“It was never mentioned in any of the public exhibitions about the Forth Crossing Replacement Act that they would be cutting trees down here. I don’t live directly beside the motorway but am in the front row of houses and it is a lot noisier now the trees have been cut down.
“Many of the residents here are concerned as to what lies ahead for us it’s made us very uneasy.”
Transport Scotland said the trees adjacent to the M90 at Park Lea have been removed to allow the construction of an overhead sign gantry.
A spokesman said, “This will be installed during 2011/12 as part of the Fife ITS contract one of the three contracts which constitute the Forth replacement crossing project.
“This particular gantry is one of a number of gantries being installed as part of the Forth replacement crossing managed motorway system to provide improvements to the control and safe operation of the M90/A90/M9 corridor extending from Halbeath to Newbridge. These works were included in the indicative scheme design as part of the Forth replacement crossing environmental statement which accompanied the Forth Crossing Bill in 2009.
“The Forth replacement crossing project team are currently in contact with Rosyth Community Council and the Park Lea residents with a view to arranging a meeting to facilitate any questions on the tree clearance and other works relating to this particular gantry. Additionally we are exploring the feasibility of providing some temporary screening in addition to the mitigation measures proposed for this area, which include trees and other planting adjacent to the gantry.”