A FORMER councillor says Inverclyde was ahead of its time fighting climate change after marking the 50th anniversary of a commemorative tree.

Jim Hunter told the Tele how an oak tree planted in Greenock town centre at one minute past midnight in 1973 put the roots down for a green revolution.

Back when Edward Heath was prime minister a 'Plant a Tree in 73' campaign was launched in the UK, but Inverclyde was already racing ahead in a bid to put down roots for 12,000.

Former head of parks Mr Hunter said:"We planted an oak tree in Clyde Square at midnight on January 1 in 1973 as part of the government's programme.

"I was with the provost at the time, Jimmy Boyd, and former provost Simpson Stevenson.

"At that time I worked for Greenock District Council and we had already been given 250 trees by IBM to plant because they were so impressed with the work that we were doing.

"At that time there were only about 2,700 trees here.

"We gave away 12,000 to schools and local people in Greenock to plant and we continued when the local towns joined together in 1975 and it became known as Inverclyde.

"I had already spoken to the Scottish Office about how important it was to plant trees - we even had our own slogan - 'keep the green in Greenock'."

At the time the oak tree was planted in Clyde Square there was an ecological disaster under way as Dutch Elm disease killed off native species.

Plant a tree in 73 was a countrywide response and continued with 'plant some more in 74' and then 'keep them alive in 75.'

Jim, who said his daughters Louise, Pauline and Andrina looked on as the tree was planted, added: "I think we really got our message across and I can honestly say Inverclyde was ahead of the fight to save our planet.

"I am very proud the oak tree still stands there.

"The one in Clyde Square was planted the right way and is well looked after."

The tree campaign put Greenock on the map as the town reached the latter stages of the Scotland in Bloom competition in 1973 and then represented the country at Britain in Bloom a year later.

The town and its tree campaign was also the subject of a BBC documentary.

Inverclyde now has tens of thousands of trees covering large areas of land.

The area is also signed up to a plan to plant 10 trees for every man, woman and child in the area over the next decade, as part of a new 'urban forest’ to tackle climate change.