Call for overhaul of Aussie council powers after controversial decision: 'Determined to get justice'
An Aussie city council has doubled down on a controversial plan to destroy a towering tree due to claims it damaged one man's fence, lawn and driveway. The decision has prompted one of the nation's leading urban planners to call for important, old trees to be federally protected because their importance to both communities and the environment doesn't appear to be recognised by guidelines at a local government level.
Professor Sarah Bekessy from RMIT and the Biodiversity Council said big old trees are 'rare' in cities, but they're still being destroyed at a rapid rate. And she's questioned whether Randwick City Council, in Sydney's east, actually needs to axe a 24-metre high weeping fig on Quail Street, Clovelly, because of concerns around insurance.
'There's always an excuse for getting rid of a tree, whether it's safety or damage to infrastructure. But that's just missing the point about their enormous benefits,' she told Yahoo News.
'It's exponential, the benefits that trees provide as they grow and get bigger. You know that standing under a small shrub doesn't give you a cooling benefit, but an enormous fig tree with a huge canopy would cool the street really substantially.
'Because the benefits accrue with size, we should also have laws that recognise that and protect them, rather than guidelines that almost seem to promote their destruction.'
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While Randwick City Council has advised it has planted over 2,000 new trees in recent years, Bekessy believes claims like this are 'pretty silly'.
'We kid ourselves that we can cut down trees, then plant other trees, and you know that the wildlife will patiently wait decades for the trees to grow and provide the habitat. That doesn't happen. You know, we have to start actually getting with it — in terms of the value of keeping all trees in our landscape,' she said.
Locals say the fig holds important memories, provides shade, and is home to wildlife. They've sketched images of a possum, owl and kookaburra on its bark to represent the creatures set to lose their homes, and a large bow has been tied around it as a symbol of its importance.
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Earlier, councillors from Randwick City Council had voted overwhelmingly to destroy the tree. The decision followed advice from its insurer that it pay out the homeowner whose property was alleged to have been damaged by its root system. Because future claims would subsequently not be covered, council claimed it had no choice but to kill the tree.
But furious residents protested against the decision, disputing whether the tree was actually impacting the home, questioning council's choice to pay the claim, and urging it to spare the tree. In response, council held an extraordinary general meeting this week to re-evaluate the tree's future, but simply voted once again to axe it.
It later told Yahoo News, all 'feasible options to retain the tree' have been exhausted and restated its belief the tree was responsible for the damage.
'Council has been actively managing the tree for many years to try and retain it. This has included undertaking canopy pruning, root investigations and pruning and repairs to the footpath,' it said.
Residents in the leafy suburbs of Clovelly and Coogee aren't about to roll over to this latest hurdle, and the matter is expected to be taken to court. They've requested materials that the council has relied on in making its decision so they can be independently reviewed.
Several residents have explained they are frustrated with what they claim is a lack of council transparency. They've lodged a freedom of information request, calling for the arborist report, and written communications between the insurer and council. If council doesn't comply with the request, the residents plan to commence legal action in the land and environment court.
'We are determined to get justice for the tree,' local man Rob Aird told Yahoo.
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