Madam, - When the EU was subsidising the construction of motorways and bypass roads it was wisely decided that newly constructed embankments be planted with trees and shrubs to improve the visual effect and shield passers-by from ugly industrial factories and poorly planned housing estates.
All this had some merit. However, now that road construction is carried out under the National Development Plan, the business of tree planting seems to have got completely out of hand, with trees being planted along main roads blotting out beautiful scenic countryside. There are examples of this excess of greenery in many counties. One has only to drive from Mullingar to Carrick-on-Shannon to see some of the worst examples of this needless planting.
I suppose young engineers and landscape planners have no idea what the countryside will look like in 30 years' time, when the plantations will be 40 feet high and motorists forced to drive through dense, dark, green tunnels. There is also the additional problem of trees planted on shallow soil falling and blocking roads during stormy weather. - Yours, etc,
J J MURPHY, Roancarrig, Glencormac, Bray, Co Wicklow.