A number of trees which make up Northern Ireland’s Dark Hedges could be cut down as they are “potentially dangerous”, a report has said.
The tunnel of beech trees near Armory, County Antrim, became famous when it featured in Game of Thrones and remains a popular tourist attraction for fans of the HBO drama.
However, a new report, commissioned by the Department of Infrastructure and experts at Tree Safety, warned that the majority of the trees were in a poor condition, while one is dead. It recommended that 11 of them be cut down.
Six of the trees are protected by Tree Preservation Orders, local media reports, meaning the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Councils will be asked to approve their removal.
The trees’ fate will be decided at a meeting this week, when councillors will consider the health and safety concerns surrounding the “potentially dangerous and structurally compromised trees”.
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They will also hear about the plan for the road, which includes work that “should help secure the continued presence of the majority of the protected trees, with an indicated life span of over 10 years.”
Rob McCallion, from the Save the Dark Hedges campaign group, said: “If they don’t do something over these trees, someone is going to be killed, because of the state they’re in.”
Mervyn Storey, a DUP councillor and member of the Dark Hedges Preservation Trust, added: “I, and no one else, wants to see the beginning of the end of what is known as the Dark Hedges.
“There was no money put in to do something like an aggressive tree planting scheme, but my feeling is it’s too late for that.”
The Dark Hedges was created when 150 trees were planted along the Bregagh Road, built in 1775.
Several of them have been felled by storms in recent years and around 80 remain.
