THE addition of Helensburgh's street trees to the National Tree Collections of Scotland could be a big boost for the town.

That's the view of the chair of the Helensburgh Tree Conservation Trust after a ceremonial tree planting marked the addition of the town's much-admired street trees to the collection.

The first of 16 Serbian spruce trees was planted along West Rossdhu Drive under the auspices of the Trust.

The planting of the first tree was carried out by Argyll and Bute Council leader, and Helensburgh councillor, Aileen Morton.

She said: “Helensburgh is really lucky to have the Trust doing such great work with the town’s street trees, and to have an organisation with the ambition to have them recognised on a national level.

“I think everyone would accept that its urban trees are one of the defining characteristics of Helensburgh and it was an honour to be involved today.”

The Trust has planted more than a thousand new trees along the streets of Helensburgh in the last 12 years, and recently approved a new management plan which will see around 60 new trees planted each year until 2027, along with maintenance of the existing trees and the removal of dead trees and stumps.

The Trust’s chairman, Iain Duncan, said: “For us to have Helensburgh’s street trees recognised as being worthy of inclusion in the National Tree Collections of Scotland is a big achievement.

“All the other trees in the collections are in botanic gardens or in the grounds of large houses, but the decision to include Helensburgh’s trees as the first urban trees in the collection will hopefully be a big boost for the town.”

The Serbian spruce trees being planted in West Rossdhu Drive have all been grown from seed by experts at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh as part of a project to preserve species deemed at risk of extinction.

Mr Duncan continued: “They asked if we would plant some of their Serbian spruce trees in Helensburgh and we were delighted to accept.

“As their inclusion in this project indicates, Serbian spruce trees are not all that common, and to have them in Helensburgh has the potential to to a lot of good for the profiles of both the Trust and Helensburgh as a whole.

“Trees improve the street scape and landscape of any town, they have enormous environmental benefits - and studies have shown that they actually increase the value of property too.

“Many people still seem to think Argyll and Bute Council looks after the trees in Helensburgh but they haven’t been able to do much for many years due to a lack of funds.”