When Alistair Stewart heard the “explosive” sound of a decades-old tree crashing into his home, he was terrified.
The 81-year-old and his wife were getting ready for bed when Storm Arwen unleashed its fury on the north-east, uprooting dozens of trees at the back of their house on Slains Crescent in Ellon.
Wild winds of up to 140mph swept across the region in November, toppling acres of woodlands and forests amid widespread chaos and devastation.
As the adverse weather wrought destruction to properties and historic buildings, residents of Slains Crescent stayed tucked away in fear for their lives.
But while Mr and Mrs Stewart were lucky to safely escape the dangerous strike of the winter storm, their beloved home bared the brunt of the harsh conditions.
Mr Stewart said: “My wife and I were just getting ready to go to bed when we heard this almighty crash – it was like an explosion.
“My first thought was to tell my wife to get away from there to the other side of the house immediately, and then went outside to see what was happening.
“It was terrifying and shocking. A tree had fallen down and landed on the roof of my house causing a lot of damage – it had totally wrecked the fence and all my decking.”
Dispute over ownership of woodland
For Mr Stewart, who has lived in Ellon for more than 30 years, the strip of trees behind his house has always been a cause of “worry and fear” due to the lack of maintenance.
Several houses on the street have suffered “significant” damage during Storms Arwen, Malik and Corrie, while a few uprooted trees continue to lean over locals’ homes.
Residents have been fighting to establish the owner of the Castlepark woodland since 2009 to ensure the trees are checked on a regular basis for health and safety reasons.
According to a letter sent to householders in 2010, Barratt Developments North Scotland hold ownership of the land and are “responsible for maintenance of those areas and the trees”.
But the company has repeatedly rejected this statement, saying the strip of land at the back boundary of Castlepark belongs to the residents as part of their buy-out deeds.
‘We live in fear, worrying about our homes’
Kathryn Morrison, who moved to Slains Crescent in 1997, said residents “live in fear” in anticipation of every storm and called on the company to resolve the issue once and for all.
She said: “As the wind has gone greater and the trees have gone older over the years, we’re seeing a lot more damage and it’s frightening every time we get a storm warning.
“Nearly all residents in these bungalows are elderly people and we just can’t cope with trees coming through our roofs and our windows.”
The 81-year-old added: “When I spoke to my solicitor, we established that this strip of land was definitely Barratt’s responsibility and not mine – but nothing has been done. And if you get in touch with Barratt, you get no feedback.
“So what are we supposed to do? We’re living in fear that our properties are going to be damaged.
“We want them to do what’s morally right and maintain the trees; to come and make sure that we don’t have to live in fear, and that we don’t have to anticipate every wind, worrying about our homes.”
Residents in limbo over ownership
Over the last few years, most of the residents have decided to try take matters into their own hands and maintain the “dangerous” tree belt themselves – paying thousands from their own pockets.
However, 58-year-old Tina Haddon, who bought a property on Slains Crescent in 2019, hit another wall when a tree surgeon refused to carry out the work as she didn’t own the rights to the woodland.
Ellon councillor Gillian Owen criticised the lack of clarity on the issue and said: “The significant problem is that nobody seems to claim responsibility for looking after the trees and maintaining this piece of land.
“There have been various meetings throughout the years to try and establish who actually owns it and in the householders’ views, it is Barratt’s responsibility.
“We are making a plea to Barratt to decide what’s going to happen and come maintain these trees because they are in dire need of it.”
Despite residents’ claims, managing director at Barratt Developments North Scotland David Palmer insisted the company is not responsible for the land.
He said: “Barratt Developments can confirm it is no longer responsible for the management of the land at the estate as this was taken over by the residents when the homes were purchased and the site was completed some time ago. We did, however, complete some remedial works at the site as a gesture of goodwill back in 2010.
“We are, of course, very sorry to hear of the storm damage affecting residents at Castle Park, which is why we would be very happy to work with the community and councillor Owen to identify a factor, which would help them to provide a long-term solution to the management of the woodland.”
