Community outrage after developer fells 137 trees

Persimmon Homes has been criticised after Blairgowrie residents counted 137 trees “massacred” to provide drainage for a housing development.

- KATHRYN ANDERSON

A row of trees has been chopped down between Dunkeld Road and Essendy Road.

Persimmon insisted the work was done in accordance with its planning permission, while Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) said it will take appropriate action if there has been “unauthorised felling”.

Avril Russell told how she woke to the sound of a chainsaw across the field from her home.

She said: “My husband noticed that several trees were coming down in an incredible rush.

“When he came back from walking the dogs, he said another neighbour had already asked the man with the chainsaw what he was doing.

He said he had been told to take down all the trees along the line between Dunkeld Road and Essendy Road.”

In December 2024 PKC’s Planning and Placemaking Committee voted by six votes to four to grant Persimmon Homes planning permission for 152 houses to be built on a Blairgowrie field despite opposition from all three ward councillors and 94 letters of objection.

Avril added: “The following day, the same group returned with even bigger equipment and several manager-types in high vis jackets, all standing around on their mobile phones.