Debate contribution: Tree Protection Bill: Second Stage
Debate contribution by Mr Peter McReynolds on .
- MLA
- Mr Peter McReynolds
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 21 September 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Tree Protection Bill: Second Stage
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5742707
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I welcomed the opportunity to interact with the Committee before the call for evidence went out in the summer. That topic came up during the course of that Committee session, and I flagged it with the drafters when the Bill was being drafted. The phrase "wholly exceptional circumstances" is difficult to define, because you can work only with what is in front of you. What will things be like in 50 years' time, for instance? It is difficult in 2026 to provide a prescriptive list of the reasons why you would object because, in 2056, aliens could appear and want to take away trees. It is difficult to define "wholly exceptional circumstances" by its very nature. It is a legal term, which is why it is included in the Bill.
Will the Member give way?
You can already object to an ancient tree if it is dying, dead or a risk to public safety. You can already remove that and address the issue. Those mechanisms are already in place for public safety, for example.
174 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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