Single tree at Game of Thrones fans’ Dark Hedges hotspot set for chop amid safety concerns
THE axe is set to fall on just one of the famous Dark Hedges trees after local reps stepped in.
Eleven of the 250-year-old Co Antrim beech trees have been declared potentially unsafe with campaigners insisting someone could be killed by a falling branch.
Council chiefs have now ruled that just one will get the chop at the tourist hotspot, said to see thousands of visitors each week.
In a statement Causeway Coast and Glens Council said last night it had "resolved to agree to the felling of one” tree out of six which are under Tree Protection Orders.
And it has vowed to "encourage further discussion on mitigation works to other trees".
The decision comes amid mounting concerns around groups of eager Thrones fans routinely gathering under weak branches, with some attempting to scale the trees.
Around 50 people at a time have been seen clustered beneath the beeches, which had an eight-second starring role in the hit HBO show.
Due to a fall-off in funding, the fantastic twisting branches over the busy Bregagh Road have not been tended since 2016.
Speaking ahead of the council’s decision, Bob McCallion, from Save the Dark Hedges campaign group, said: "If they don't do something over these trees, someone is going to be killed.
"Some of those branches are as thick as your waist."
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He said around 2,000 to 3,000 people visited the site on Saturday.
Yet as the visitors continue to arrive, the warning went out this week of a real danger to life if around 11 of the trees, planted in 1775, are not cut down.
Mr McCallion said members of his group visit the stunning “tree tunnel at least twice a week”.
The Dark Hedges came to world attention after Game of Thrones justice seeker Arya Stark fled beneath the stunning canopy from King’s Landing in season two.
Since then, coach loads of tourists have been showing up to get snapped at the striking location, with some having damaged the beeches by trying to climb them.
'DANGEROUSLY UNSTABLE'
Mr McCallion said: “You could have 50 people at a time standing underneath one of those trees and particularly one of those trees mentioned in the survey that haven’t been ‘dead wooded’ since 2016.”
Near the village of Armoy, the Dark Hedges is made up of a row of 86 trees.
A report from Northern Ireland's Department for Infrastructure said 11 were dangerously unstable and risked toppling on to tourists.
Only 86 of the trees now remain free from damage and rot.
CHOP
Of 80 surveyed by tree safety experts, 30 were in a fair condition but most were in a poor state, the study found. And one was already dead.
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It’s believed that tree is the one facing the chop.
Six of the 11 trees of concern are subject to tree protection orders, which means the local council must give its consent.