Thursday August 6th 2026
Author and professional storyteller Tim Porteous attends the official launch of the Tranent Tree Town project
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
A three-year project to restore an East Lothian town’s tree population damaged by a 40-year-old strike and new housing developments has been launched.
Former mining town Tranent has one of the lowest tree counts in the county with an estimated 16 percent canopy cover – half of the target set by environmental supporters.
It is believed the town was hit hard during the mining strike of 1984 when a cold winter left residents resorting to cutting trees to heat their homes. Since then new housing developments have been added to the town reducing green space with more planned in the future.
Now the Tranent Tree Town project has been launched with funding from the Urban Forestry Challenge Fund from Future Woodlands Scotland.
Local charity Natural Connections is working with East Lothian Council Amenity Services to involve local schools, community groups and residents in their bid to increase trees across the town.
Russel McLarty, chairperson of Natural Connections and the project said: “When I visit other East Lothian towns it is so obvious that they are ‘leafy’ with much more tree cover.
“One of the reasons for a loss of trees in Tranent, a traditional mining town, was the Strike of 1984-85 which was a cold winter and people resorted to cutting trees for fuel.
“Some of the new housing areas in Tranent have been developed with hardly a tree in sight where the most recent are a bit better in having some areas if planting. We are however facing the threat of new housing being built in an area to the east of the town with the removal of established and quite important emergent woodland and this would be tragic.”
East Lothian Council launched its own tree and canopy strategy over a year ago working to plant more trees and increase cover in urban areas.
Councillor Colin McGinn, cabinet spokesperson for community wellbeing and countryside said: “The council is delighted to be working in partnership with Natural Connections on Tranent Tree Town and I’m so pleased this wonderful scheme has now been launched.
“Tranent currently has one of the lowest levels of tree cover in East Lothian and I’m sure this community-led scheme will bring about much-needed improvement, especially in residential areas.
“Trees can provide many health benefits, including better air quality and reduced stress levels. I believe Tranent Tree Town will create a model which can be rolled out across other communities in the county which are also in need of greater urban tree canopy cover.”
To get involved with the project go to Natural Connections website for more details.
Tweet Share on Facebook
