A dozen palm trees at Ocean View Golf Course have been moved to a private home and replaced with easier to maintain trees at no cost to the public purse, according to the Ministry of Public Works.

Last night, a spokesman responded to reports of 12 Canary Island Date Palm trees being relocated, under an exchange authorised by the golf course’s board of trustees in 2019 in consultation with the minister.

The mature trees, which were proving expensive to maintain, were switched with spindle palms in a “like-for-like arrangement”, the spokesman said.

The switch, originally arranged with Brown and Company Landscape Gardeners and Tree Surgeons, was put on hold by the pandemic.

But another company, Atlantic Construction, took over the swap after the landscapers found in May that they no longer needed the trees.

The spokesman said the last phase of the switch went through last week, with the remaining nine palms removed from Ocean View.

Atlantic Construction, which assumed ownership of the palms, found a home for the trees at a private residence, in Smith’s, and carried out the replacement at no charge to the Government, said the spokesman.

He said the final recipient was not required to pay for the trees under the terms of the switch.