Stittsville residents disappointed by removal of trees near local school

Stittsville residents disappointed by tree removal Stittsville residents say they're sad to see a line of trees come down near a local school. CTV's Jackie Perez reports.

John Clarke knew this day would come, but he wasn't fully prepared to see or hear it from his backyard.

"Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one tree come down," he said, "so, I knew that was the end of it."

The Stittsville resident says he and several of his neighbours received a letter from the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board informing them a large portion of trees would be cleared out before April 15 to accommodate a new play area at Westwind Public School on Hartsmere Drive.

According to the letter, the forested area has posed numerous challenges for the school; daily inspections turned up alcohol bottles, feces, and drug paraphernalia.

The board adds the deforestation would allow for more green space and supervision, and would accommodate the growing population of the area.

"I understand it," said Clarke, "it's the price of suburban growth. It's a shame they couldn't figure out a better way to grow the school so they didn’t have to tear the forest out."

The OCDSB tells CTV News the board has closely followed the City of Ottawa's bylaw on urban tree conservation, including hiring an external firm to conduct a tree conservation report. Provided all approvals have been received by the city, the remainder of the work will be carried out this summer.

The sound of chainsaws and trees hitting the ground could be heard for most of the day Tuesday.

A line of trees still remains, but Clarke, who has lived in the area for nearly 20 years, says it's still sad to see them go.

"You lose a bit of forested space that you're never going to get back," he says.