A builder who hacked a 100-year-old protected “landmark” tree is facing a massive fine of up to £20,000, after chopping into the sycamore with a chainsaw and killing it in a fit of “frustration” after Fife Council refused to let him chop it down.
Robert Wilkie twice applied for planning permission to build homes on a piece of land in Kinghorn Road, Burntisland, but failed after a deluge of objections by neighbours and even the area’s MSP.
They feared Wilkie’s development would end up killing the towering sycamore described as a local landmark and an “ancient symbol” of the area.
Fife Council put in place an additional tree preservation order in 2012 to protect the tree, which sat in grounds adjacent to a home owned by Wilkie in Kinghorn Road.
Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court heard Wilkie had sold the land which the tree sits on for £10,000 to his daughter and that she had last year applied for permission to build flats on it.
That application was put in on the same day Wilkie snapped and took a chainsaw to the tree and was overheard saying he was “tired of people telling him what to do”.
Neighbours called in Fife Council who carried out an assessment and reported that two rings had been cut around the tree’s circumference.
That deprived the tree of sap, killing it and meaning it had to be cut down for safety reasons.
A sheriff branded Wilkie’s destruction a “disgrace” and said he had to be convinced Wilkie would not financially benefit from the tree being cut down before he could pass sentence.
Wilkie, 59, of Bangholm Terrace, Edinburgh, pleaded guilty to wilfully damaging the tree contrary to a tree preservation order on June 16 last year.
Nigel Cooke, defending, said: “He doesn’t accept there will be any financial benefit to cutting the tree down.
“He sold the land to his daughter and it’s not currently capable of development.
“His position is he was frustrated because he considered the tree was potentially damaging his property adjacent to it.
“He will replace the tree. He was in the building industry but was hit by the downturn and now works as a building surveyor and consultant. He has been sequestrated recently.”
Sheriff James Williamson said: “He has effectively destroyed a tree that was a local landmark. It’s quite shocking behaviour. He hacked into a tree with sufficient force to kill it.
“The penalty is limited to a financial penalty of up to £20,000. I need to know if he’s going to have any financial benefit.
“I can’t help but feel he has contrived this situation between the transfer of the property to his daughter then the sequestration. He now finds himself here with limited financial circumstances which I have to consider.
“I think this is just an absolutely disgraceful piece of behaviour. He took a chainsaw to a tree which he had no permission to do it is outrageous.”