3000 trees cut down along city tram route

MORE than 3000 trees are set to be chopped down along the city’s tram route, sparking outrage from environmental campaigners over the destruction.

A total of 3321 trees are to be removed on the nine-mile route from Edinburgh Airport to St Andrew Square, with the majority of the trees having already been felled.

Green Lothians MSP Alison Johnstone, who is also a city councillor, said: “When they see these old trees there one day and gone the next, they are shocked. People are not convinced these trees had to come down or these areas will be returned to the way they were. It will take decades for new saplings to grow.”

Council chiefs said there will be a net total of 50,000 more trees planted along the route than there had been previously.