Lismore’s sylvan setting may be oft admired but in the town itself, trees are causing lots of problems the monthly meeting of its town council heard on Monday night.

Cllr Orla Russell raised the matter, asking when the promised pruning of trees at Fernville, South Mall would be done. Previously, she’d told the council that the trees were blocking the light from houses. Cllr Jimmy O’Gorman thought serious consideration should be given to removing them altogether. The cost of cleaning up the leaves from them is too much, especially with budgets and staff for such work having been cut. Besides, he felt, they weren’t suitable trees for the location.

Cllr Julie Landers pointed out another problem, the large number of limbs that had come down in recent storms.

It was a problem not just in Fernville, but throughout the town, Cllr Russell felt, especially when leaves from the trees turned slippery after falling in the autumn.

Cllr Bernard Leddy wondered if the local Tidy Towns group shouldn’t be brought into the matter.

Town manager Paul Daly, said he’d ask the council’s horticulturist about it and try to get a report for their next meeting. Cllr Russell said she’d be against getting rid of trees altogether while Cllr Ken Madden felt it was a case of ‘finding a balance’.