Regina Beach residents stand between trees and chainsaws

Some Regina Beach residents are taking a stand, putting themselves between a row of trees and the workers sent to cut them down.

An official from the Ministry of Parks showed up to the community park Wednesday morning to complete the job, but was stopped by the drastic gesture.

Marty Halpape with the Parks Ministry says the decision to cut the trees came after a risk assessment.

But locals aren’t buying that, saying children have been climbing those branches for decades.

“To remove something so precious to those have been here, unbelievable,” said Janey Davies, a Regina Beach resident. “Forty years I’ve been out here. My children grew up here, my grandchildren are growing up here, that’s three generations right here.”

Some residents say they were told the reason the trees were slated to be cut down was due to a child falling and injuring themselves.

For now, workers on site have been told to put the chainsaws away.

“We’ll be re assessing removal of the trees,” said Halpape. ” No more tree removal will be occurring this year unless there’s a safety concern with the tree that has been left and half-processed.”