Moss Bank Park: Resident dismayed by tree felling

Tree surgeons recently felled trees in Moss Bank Park in Bolton, due to a parastic fungus.

Bolton Council confirmed that trees are being cut down in the area because they pose a safety risk to the public.

Ash dieback disease forces council to remove dangerous trees

A spokesperson for Bolton Council said: “Diseased Trees present a safety risk. The council has a duty to keep the public safe and therefore we have no choice but to remove them.”

However, Nigel Ogden, aged 55, of Smithills, expressed concern that trees in the park are being cut down.

Local resident Nigel Ogden believes the trees are perfectly healthy

He said: “As you turn into the café there’s three or four trees, they’re not young trees, they’re about 100 years old.

“There was a lady cutting the trees down by herself, she had a chainsaw in her hands. She said it was a parasitic fungus and its leaves were dying on the end.

“It spoils the appearance of the line of trees, they’re cutting trees down for fun in Moss Bank Park.

“But they seem to spend a fortune on Queen’s Park.”

The trees are said to be being felled because of a parasitic fungus

He continued: “It’s a shame, they’ve planted a lot of new trees from shrubs, about a foot high, on the other side of the park, so it seems they’re trying to make woodland but seem very ready to cut down trees.

“Once it’s cut down you can’t stick a young one in its place, and it’ll be the same again.

“I have an interest in nature, it’s lovely walking round here but when you see something like that. Why not treat it at the source rather than cutting the whole tree down.”

Nigel says it's lovely walking around the park, but that seeing things like this is a 'crying shame'

Nigel added: “I go around every day, I live opposite the park, it’s a crying shame when I see things like that.

“It’s taken over 100 years for that to grow, for someone to come along and cut it down it seems drastic to me. They didn’t even look dead.”