Debate contribution: Tree Protection Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Colin McGrath on 21 September 2026.

MLA: Mr Colin McGrath
Party at the time: Social Democratic and Labour Party
Date: 21 September 2026
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Private Members' Business
Heading: Tree Protection Bill: Second Stage
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5742645

Text

I thank the Bill sponsor for bringing the Bill to Second Stage. Of course, the debate is just on the general principles of the Bill; we do not need to get down into the roots of all the matters that are in it. I want my speech to be a bit different. Rather than talking about the specifics of the Bill, I will give a couple of examples from my constituency of why we need the legislation and to try to illustrate its importance. The first example stands at the entrance to Rostrevor Oakwood. There is a magnificent oak tree that is around 200 years old, and generations of people have passed it on their way into one of the last remaining ancient oak woods on the island. People know it by a rather unique name: the "Invisible Tree". It got that name because, during a long-running planning controversy in Rostrevor, that very visible and substantial oak tree was omitted from a tree survey and from the report submitted in support of the planning application. There was something almost symbolic about what happened. A tree that had stood there for generations and was visible to everyone who walked past somehow became invisible when decisions were being made about the land around it. However, the community made it visible again. Local people organised and campaigned, and Rostrevor Action Respecting the Environment (RARE) championed the tree and the wider oak wood. In 2019, the tree, which had once been left out of a survey, was voted the Woodland Trust's Tree of the Year. That is an extraordinary turnaround for it. However, despite that, the invisible tree still does not have a tree preservation order, and that is why the Bill potentially matters so much. Clause 1 provides a new route for ancient trees. Where there is reason to believe that a tree may qualify as ancient, the council could have that assessed by a suitably qualified tree specialist. If that assessment determines that it is an ancient tree, the Bill says that the council must make a tree preservation order unless the tree is dead. Therefore, I would like to know whether the legislation could finally provide the route through which the "Invisible Tree" becomes not just cherished by the community but protected by law. Another tree in South Down tells a different but equally important story: on Newcastle promenade stands our famous "Bendy Tree". It is a wych elm that is more than 150 years old, and it has been bent almost horizontal by generations of wind coming in from the Irish Sea. It survived when other trees on the original promenade were cut down. It has also survived Dutch elm disease and more than a century of storms. Today, it is the last surviving tree from that original row, and it is shortlisted for the Woodland Trust's UK Tree of the Year 2026. I welcome the fact that the Bill specifically recognises a sense of place as one of the ecosystem services that trees provide, because anyone from Newcastle or Rostrevor understands exactly what that means. That "Bendy Tree" is part of the promenade and is part of people's memories of growing up there and walking beside the sea, meeting friends and bringing their children and grandchildren back to that same place. The "invisible" oak tree is now one of the features that people seek out when they visit Rostrevor, and the stories that are shared about the trees are ones that many locals or those who have visited remember. Some trees grow in a community, and others become part of the community. The "Invisible Tree" and the "Bendy Tree" have done exactly the latter. The Bill gives us an opportunity to ensure that our law finally recognises what the people of Rostrevor and Newcastle have understood for generations: that trees are not obstacles to development but are part of our heritage, our story and the places that we call "home".
I thank the Member for his intervention. I am on the last sentence of my speech, but the Member's intervention gives me another opportunity to highlight something absolutely fantastic on Main Street in Newcastle and to encourage people to visit. It is an absolutely beautiful and unique tree, and it underscores the importance of the Bill in providing the protections that such trees need.
We are happy to support the Bill at Second Stage. I am sure that there will be discussions at Committee Stage about the finer details, which my colleague Justin McNulty will take us through, but we are delighted to support the Bill.

767 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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