8th December 09 – looking for ‘Trees Near You’

I have just seen an Apple application for iPhone called Trees Near You.  It has been created specifically for the streets of New York, so of no use here in Sydney.  The phone application allows you to go to any location in New York & find the name of any street tree.

A nice looking branch of a Brushbox street tree, unusual because tree branches in this LGA are not usually allowed to grow sideways

You are provided with a photo of the tree, including close up of leaves & any flowers.  The horticultural name is provided as well as details about the behaviour of the tree, its growth patterns, its current trunk size & most importantly, its visual, environmental & economic value to the community in terms of how much CO2 it sequesters, how much oxygen it produces, how much storm water runoff it collects  & how much energy it saves.  All these facts are calculated into dollars each tree actually saves the community.

The monetary value of street trees can be calculated for an individual tree, a street, a block, an area, the city or the whole state.

What is interesting to me is that the demo video shows just how many trees are planted in each city street.  I did not watch the whole video, just long enough to understand how the application worked.  The part that I watched concentrated on streets in New York City, which we all know to be high-density living.

Even in New York City the street trees are planted close to each other, much closer together than in Marrickville LGA.  There also seems to be a greater variety of tree species & most certainly taller growing trees. Their green canopy is far greater than ours.

NYC is constantly planting new street trees to reach their goal of 1 million new street trees.  They already have 500,000 street trees just in this small island.

The other thing that is interesting about this application is that the information was derived from street census data & made available to the public by the city government. This means they did a Tree Inventory, something I think Marrickville Council should do as a priority.  The city government believed that the public were involved enough to actually want this information made available to them.

Oh, how I wish the same were happening here.  Apple would not have spent money creating an application such as this if they did not think there would be a demand for it.  This is further indication that the people of New York are interested in their street trees & value them highly.

This application could be taken further by colouring in red those trees that are earmarked for removal or have been removed, but not replaced.  The reasons could be provided & I would guess this would result in more people in the community electing to actively support the retaining of healthy trees.

I think it would also deter property owners from applying to have the street tree out front removed for whatever reason, be it assumed root damage, unwanted shade, obstruction of views, dropping of leaves, noise made by the branches moving in the wind or annoyance at wildlife living in the tree.

An application like this documenting the street trees in Marrickville LGA would help SOT immensely.  All that information at my fingertips, it’s a dream!  Hurry up Apple and please, make it available for computer use!  It would probably be useful for Council as well.

5th December 09 – Walk Against Warming happening this Saturday

The Nature Conservation of NSW & 13 other well-known organisations have organised a march in Sydney on Saturday 12^th December.  While the world’s leaders are attending the UN in Copenhagen trying to come to agreement on what action they will take about climate change, there will be people marching in cities all over the world.  It is important to send a clear message to our government to agree on real action because the climate can’t wait.  Scientists agree the safe atmospheric levels of CO2 is maximum 350 ppm.  Levels are already at 382 ppm & rising.  I hope you decide to attend.

WALK AGAINST WARMING - Martin Place, Sydney at 1pm on Saturday 12^th December 09   http://www.walkagainstwarming.org

(3rd Nov) 3rd December 09 – Plant trees for the future

I have been following with great interest developments around the world concerning climate change & the value of trees.  Every climate change expert has been seriously & loudly advocating that we immediately stop large-scale logging in forests. They are also advising that we embark on mass reforestation world-wide, citing this as the most effective means of soaking up the dangerous levels of CO2 in the earth’s atmosphere & preventing run-away climate change.  Of course there are other interventions, such as stopping the use of coal for power, but trees are universally recognised as an essential component in the management of climate change & the prevention of species extinction, including human beings.

There is a also a increasing push for rich countries to pay for the preservation of old growth forests which are currently being logged or burnt at alarming rates.  The Amazon Rain Forest, long regarded as the ‘lungs of the world,’ is one forest the existence of which is deemed essential to preserving life on this planet because it removes billions of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere & stores it as carbon.

There is also a plethora of information coming out about the value of trees in the urban setting.  Again, the experts say that we must plant more trees in our cities & that we should be doing it now.

The climate change experts say we need to plant substantial trees with large trunks & substantial canopies, as these tree species are the most effective at sequestering & storing CO2.  Small stature trees with thin trunks & branches are not nearly as effective in CO2 sequestration as large trunk trees & should be used when there are no other options.  However, you just need to visit a intensely built suburb like Balmain or Paddington to realise that large trees can survive well in small spaces & the buildings do not fall down as a result of large trees planted near them.

My reading has shown there is a marked difference in attitude regarding trees between Australia & most of the world with the difference most noticeable with America.

Americans love their trees & it is quite common for a local community to come together to protest the removal of any tree within the urban landscape.  Tree removal & pruning is reported widely in American news.

I came across this lovely sign in a Camperdown park

Read any article about trees in the local news throughout America & you will find many comments left by readers, sometimes into the hundreds.  The community is highly engaged when it comes to trees & not just concerning street & park trees.  Americans with no particular affiliations & of all ages routinely protest the proposed pruning of trees in back roads, the removal of a lone 100 year old tree sitting next to a railway line, the removal of street trees because of pavement movement or development & even the lowering of the green canopy by new home owners who remove trees on their property.

In New York state a number of counties have invoked Ordinances which prevent developers from clear-cutting lots for housing, a practice which is done routinely in Australia.  Counties are also preventing people who have newly bought into the area from cutting down trees on their property stating that this action changes the character of the town.  They say it is unacceptable for people buy into an area because it looks good, then proceed to make the area look bad by cutting down the trees on their property & even asking that the street trees be removed as well.

In one County in New York both the community & the Governing bodies because upset when they realised the green canopy had decreased.  Now there are strict town codes preventing the removal of trees & hefty fines for those who chop first & ask questions later.  The County knows who have chopped down trees on their property not only because of reporting from neighbours, but also, because they have done a tree inventory & this is monitored on a regular basis.

Significant proof is required if residents accuse trees of causing damage.  All trees cut down on private property have to be immediately replaced.  There are also strict requirements about the species of tree that is required to be planted in the place of a tree that has been removed.  A property owner cannot cut down a large tree & replace it with a small growing tree unless they have accepted proof as to why this is necessary & they certainly cannot elect to not plant a replacement tree without good reason.

I highly doubt they allow pruning of street trees done by residents to ensure a tree doesn’t grow, a practice that is reasonably common in the streets of Marrickville LGA.

The community is educated about the benefits of trees from school upwards.  There may be significant debate & denial about anthropogenic climate change in America, but most people know that trees collect storm runoff, prevent soil erosion, remove pollutants from the air & raise property values.  Neither the community nor the Governing bodies are willing to allow what they openly term ‘tree haters’ to remove trees without good reason.  They believe that trees belong to the community & should be protected by the community.  They also strongly believe that trees are vital to the community’s well being.

We often follow America in our likes & customs.  I am hoping that a general love, knowledge & appreciation of trees become the norm in our society.  If the climate change scientists are correct, we don’t have too long because we need trees now more than we ever have in the known history of mankind & trees take decades to grow to the size needed to be effective in removing & storing CO2 from our atmosphere.   We need to start now.

27th November 09 – Mackey Park Revised Plan is a winner

The details of Mackey Park Revised Masterplan arrived.  Marrickville Council listened to the community & made a number of significant changes from their original plan for the upgrade of Mackey Park.  The new plan will cost $3.1 million, up on the original Federal grant of $2,265,000.  The revised Master Plan is as follows:

• The 2 Hills Fig trees will be retained. 1 tree will be pruned to remove a large unsafe branch & both trees will be pruned as required to install & maintain field lighting.
• 4 Carob trees will be removed.  1 Carob tree is in the outer area of a cricket oval.  The remaining 3 Carob’s will be removed to leave space for a potential pedestrian path (no lighting) to connect with the Cook River pathway.  Saving Our Trees did want to retain these trees, but Council thought these trees were old, not in good condition & the community seemed unconcerned about them.
• Revegetation with floodplain forest & woodland tree species is proposed in the future for 7 areas around the perimeter of Mackey Park.
• There will be 2 full-sized & 2 half-sized soccer fields.
• The central pedestrian path is to be removed for a full-size cricket oval with both a junior & senior pitch.
• The entrance to the park opposite Tempe Railway Station will be retained.
• A pedestrian pathway with lighting will travel from the current entrance next to the clubhouse & follow the embankment along the north-east side of the park below Richardsons Crescent all the way to the current entrance opposite Tempe Railway Station.
• A second pedestrian pathway will travel from the clubhouse alongside the playground before reaching the current entrance at the bottom of Premier Street.  This pathway will not have lighting.  It will also have 900mm fencing along 1 side to ‘reduce informal pedestrian access across the field area to the Richardsons Crescent entry.’ In other words, to prevent pedestrians walking straight through the park to & from Tempe Railway Station.  The field is to be monitored to check for a walker’s track on the turf surface, so remember to tip-toe.  If Council finds evidence that this is happening, they intend to erect more fencing & ‘other measures.’
• A new footpath will be built outside the entrance next to the clubhouse which will head towards Carrington Road and travel to a pedestrian crossing opposite the Choice building near Cary Street.
• The water tank will be placed in the current Sydney Water site near the playground or, if this is unsuitable in the area north of the Concordia Club.
• Council is attempting to obtain further funding which will allow them to rebuild the Clubhouse rather than renovate.
• Subsurface drainage & irrigation systems will be installed under the sporting fields.
• The children’s playground will be refurbished & new shade trees will be planted.
• The soil of the playground & 1 other pollution ‘hotspot’ of Mackey Park will be decontaminated.
• The real surprise is the proposed establishing of a 2,200m2 wetland in the lower west side of the park between the Fig trees, around the soccer oval & almost to the tree area near the Premier Street entrance.  This will be planted with Cooks River Freshwater & Brackish Swamp & Floodplain Forest & Woodland species.  I was told that this wetland will ‘polish’ any ground pollutants before they enter into the Cooks River.  It will also provide greater biodiversity & much-needed habitat for birds, animals & insects.  Personally, I am very pleased about this.  There are however, 9 or 10 mature trees in this area.  Will they need to be removed?

All up, the new plans look fabulous.  The sporting clubs get both what they want & what they need to carry on providing top level sporting facilities to players.  If the Clubhouse is rebuilt, this will be even better.  Mackey Park will be used all year round for sports. Pedestrians will not have to walk along the very busy & to my mind, dangerous Richardsons Crescent.  The ground pollutants, which no-one knew about, will be removed helping the Cooks River immensely.  The park will be lit at night making it usable & safe for the community.  A double-decker sized water tank will not mar the entrance to Mackey Park.

 

Mackey Park Fig Trees

And the Figs … the 2 gorgeous 25 metre high Fig trees whose proposed removal started this whole community campaign will get to live on & provide a sense of continuity & history for the community.  The hundreds of birds & insects who call these Figs home will also be happy.  Caloo! Caloo!

 

–> To the community who attended the community consultation & council meetings, wrote submissions, wrote to & rang Councillors, spoke at the Council meeting, allowed their speeches to be published on this site, spoke to the media & had their photo taken, printed the petition & posters for free, letter-dropped, signed petitions, offered to put the petition in their shops, alerted me to other issues about the plans, told me their stories about the Fig trees, helped organise the Save the Mackey Park Fig Trees Party, donated paper, chalk, colouring pencils & boards for the children to draw on, donated their time & talent to entertain us at that party, came to the party (even from adjoining suburbs because they cared about these particular Figs trees), to the Councillors who attended the party, to those Councillors who wrote saying they wanted to, but work commitments prevented them from attending, to the kids who made signs & held them up at the Council meeting,  who drew pictures of the trees & asked that the trees be retained for their future & their own childrens future & to both the Inner West Courier & the Valley Times who covered the campaign from beginning to end & to the Greens Councillors who supported saving the Figs right from the start, to the Labor Councillors who listened to the community & reversed their original decision to instead support the retaining of the Figs & to the many people who wrote & approached me in person to offer your support & opinions – I thank you all.  (Phew!  Have I forgotten anyone?)

 

Part of the 300 strong crowd who came to save the Figs

Without your involvement, these 2 beautiful & as one young girl said to me, “iconic” trees would be cut down by now & our community would be worse off for it.

 

It was a remarkably peaceful campaign, which was very pleasing.  I received only 1 accusatory e-mail.  It showed that the community was united in this issue & that we could support the needs of others in our endeavour to save the trees.

Thank you also to Marrickville Council & to the Councillors who listened to the community taking our objections & suggestions seriously. I was surprised whilst reading the package of the Revised Plans for Mackey Park, just how many stakeholders & advisors were involved in the process.  It is a fabulous result & now with the new plans, all sectors of the community will have a beautiful & useful park without losing community amenity.  And the trees live on!

19th November 09 – Mackey Park done & dusted

On 4th November I posted here that Council had notified me by letter that:

1.            the Mackey Park Refurbishment Revised Masterplan would be available for the public to view on 3^rd December 09 and

2.            be decided at the Services meeting on 8^th December 09.

On the 17^th November 09 the Inner West Courier published a letter in which I accused Council of not allowing enough time for the public to view the new draft revised Masterplan before the proposed vote on the 8^th December.

Today I received a letter from Marrickville Council written on the same day as my letter appeared in the Inner West Courier advising me that the Mackey Park Masterplan was on the agenda & voted on at Council’s Services Committee meeting on 10^th November 09.

Hang on…something’s wrong here.  One letter tells me the community can view the Masterplan for 4 days this coming December.  The next letter tells me that Council voted on the Masterplan whilst the community was sitting at home watching the telly & waiting for a chance to view the revised plans & participate in what Council had previously described as valuable consultation.

Considering this is a very significant project attracted huge community input, media attention & rejection of the previous plans by the Councillors, I would have thought that Council wouldn’t want to decide the issue behind the community’s back.

Despite the fact the ultimate decision does address many of the community’s concerns, the process misled & lulled the community into believing it would have a chance to make comment & exercise its right to attend the meeting.  The community needs to have confidence that Council means what it says & doesn’t arbitrarily withdraw the citizens’ fundamental right of political discourse in such serious matters.

A Council staff member kindly offered to mail a copy so I can see what goes where, but one thing is for certain, the 2 glorious Fig trees survived.  I will write again after I view the approved plan.

18th November 09 – Letter in the Inner West Courier, Bush Pockets working-bee & another large tree bites the dust

The Inner West Courier published a letter of mine about the revised plans for Mackey Park.  If you are interested in reading it, click on the Media page in the left-hand column, which will take you to the link.

In other news, Bush Pockets is building a swathe this Saturday morning in Marrickville & would love help from anyone who wishes to volunteer for an hour or 2.  For details about Bush Pockets & contact information, go to the What’s On page on the left-hand column.

SOT doesn’t campaign to save trees on private property (unless it is a significant issue which clearly affects the community), but today I feel the need to make mention of an old & beautiful Coral tree in Newtown which met its death today.  It’s the usual reason.  A resident complains to Council & says the tree is causing damage to pipes or property, so the tree has to go & the community has lost 1 more large tree.

I mention this because I want to share parts of a letter that was sent to me regarding this tree.  I think that this small excerpt conveys the distress that people feel when a tree is chopped down.  It also eloquently highlights how many birds & animals rely on this tree.

I imagine it has been a bad day for the writer.  Their garden, which was green & leafy from the branches that overhung the fence & shaded the fernery will now be bare, hot & unsuitable for ferns.  Instead of leafy green, there will be a view of a red brick wall.  Then there is the issue of the family of possums – where will they live now?  Most of the trees in that area have been chopped down & this was the last large tree standing:

“So now we lose a beautiful tree because someone ‘doesn’t like it’, doesn’t like the mess it makes, doesn’t like the fact that it ‘get’s in the way,’ disturbs the plumbing, costs money & is wrongly accused of being ‘dangerous’.

Just now…when its Spring…when the tree is looking its most magnificent…in full bloom…new growth sprouting everywhere…branches laden with Rosellas gorging themselves on its red pods & filling the air with a cacophony of birdsong…such a rich, rich divergent habitat…home to possums & many other creatures…”

 

17 November 09 – 100 year old street tree will be chopped down

 

Lemon Scented Gum outside 139 Cambridge St Stanmore

Marrickville Council kindly notified me today that the Lemon Scented Gum street tree outside 139 Cambridge Street Stanmore is to be removed.

 

Council received a Public Liability claim saying the street tree was causing damage to the house & if they refused to remove the tree they would be held financially liable for any damage for the life of the tree.

After exhausting a number of options including an Arborist’s inspection, an independent Engineer’s report, considering the possibility of locating the tree roots through the use of ground-penetrating radar equipment & constructing a root barrier, Council has had to agree to the residents’ request for the tree to be removed.

It’s a great shame & certainly a huge loss to the community, but I agree, Marrickville Council should not be exposed to financial liability for damage to a house by a tree that could perhaps live another hundred years.  Therefore, with significant sadness, the fight is over to save this particular street tree.

A big thanks from me to all of you who took the time to write & send a submission to Marrickville Council to try & save this tree.  I very much appreciate your efforts.   Jacqueline

15th November 09 – There’s money in trees

 

One thing that has surprised me when researching street trees is how much impact trees have on property values. It has been found that trees can increase property values up to 25%. Initially this percentage seems amazing & somehow unreal, but when you think about it, properties in beautiful tree-lined streets do sell for more money. If there are beautiful trees on the property as well as a beautiful tree-lined street, then the value of the property is even higher. Those green suburbs that have thousands of tall trees with large natural canopies are well known for their high property values. Yet, much of their housing is similar to that in Marrickville LGA. Those suburbs only look better because they have more tall trees on private property & many more street trees.

Why do trees raise property values? People react to green. Trees make most people feel good on a deep & often unconscious level. Trees make people relax & send the message that here, in this place, we can be happy.

When we drive down a street where the trees are hacked & unpleasant to look at, we have one of 2 emotional responses. We either ignore our surroundings or we become agitated. Even if we ignore our surroundings, we are still unconsciously assessing an area & if asked about it later, we are likely to say that we don’t particularly like the suburb. If we become agitated, we are reacting to the ugliness. We know there is something about the locality that we don’t like, be it the ugly buildings, the feeling of being cramped, the graffiti, general dirtiness or the large areas of cement. We notice all these things because of the lack of trees or because the trees themselves are stumpy, lob-sided & ugly.

This reaction is why some suburbs are designated as ‘not good areas.’ Sure, some suburbs are well known for their criminal activities & although there are many factors that contribute to criminality in a community, trees even have a part to play in this. Research has shown that people who live in streets with many large street trees have a heightened sense of community pride. There is little or no graffiti, less littering & less dumping. People are reacting to the green & the beauty of trees & they think twice before doing an action that will mar this. They will go elsewhere to leave their tags for example.

Street trees with a low visual impact

Lovely street trees bring a sense of order to the visual environment where there is an architectural hotch-potch of buildings because the human eye notices the beauty of the trees & not the ugliness of the

Street trees with a greater visual impact - a 'greener' street

buildings. The city of Canberra knows this well because they hide most of their factories behind a mass of trees. They also plant many tall growing trees in car parks so they eye sees the beauty of the trees & not the asphalt.

 

For decades the roads leaving Sydney airport were unbelievably ugly consisting of miles of buildings with very few trees. Mascot Council has changed this over the last decade by planting thousands of Eucalypts & other tall growing street trees. To my mind, this has greatly improved the area. The roads surrounding the airport are now green & a haven for nectar-feeding birds. The roads also showcase Australian flora for tourists. Similarly, the M5 was beautified before the Olympics by the planting of masses of trees, native flowers & grasses.

No one wants to live in ugly localities. They do so because they cannot afford to live in prettier suburbs. Seeing acres of tiled roofs disturbs people. We like green. Even if some of us think trees should be a significant distance from our house, we still like trees & even go to places in our leisure time where there are trees because everyone needs a dose of green to feel good. Only skate-boarders & graffiti artists spend their leisure time in cemented areas.

In America insuring the trees is commonplace. Real Estate Agents calculate the tree’s Leaf Surface Area (LSA) when determining property values. A property with more LSA has a higher value than one with fewer trees & lower LSA. These values accumulate incrementally over time because each tree typically adds more leaf surface area after each growing season.

So, if you are considering chopping down a tree on your property or you want the street tree out front removed, you need to be aware that doing so will likely decrease the value of your property & that of your neighbours as well. Sweeping those annoying leaves is really an investment. As for root damage, once a tree is mature, its roots are in place & it will not be creating any further damage to your property. Trees planted 70 plus years ago will not likely be causing damage today. There are businesses that specialise in using sonar to track the path of tree roots & boundaries can be put in place to prevent roots from travelling further if you wish to ensure they won’t encroach on your property. These interventions cost money, but a large tree will pay for itself over time not just in higher property values, but also by lowering household energy costs throughout the year.

With global warming many of us need to rethink our attitude to trees. They are not nuisances that only belong in parks. As climate change advances we will be more reliant on their cooling ability & for their spectacular ability to absorb CO2 & store carbon. Communities will find themselves planting urban forests rather than chopping trees down.

 

 

14th November 09 – Using rain runoff to water street trees

I came across an interesting idea recently concerning the pipe that takes water collected from your roof underground & out to the road side gutter.

If you need to install a new pipe, choose a PVC pipe.  Before you install it, drill decent sized holes along the sides & bottom of the pipe. Doing so will allow some of the rainwater to travel out of the pipe into the ground & water nearby street trees.  You can make the pipe more effective by laying the pipe in a bed of blue metal rocks & partially bury it with more blue metal rocks.  This will make it easier for the rain water to move out from the pipe & into the surrounding soil.

This is such an easy idea to use water that is usually wasted to water street trees.  They will thank you for it.

11th November 09 – Transparency – Marrickville Council responds

As I wrote in my last post, I was going to write to Marrickville Council & ask why decisions about trees earmarked for removal were not posted on their web-site.  I did.  This evening I received a response from Council.

I was advised that that Marrickville Council is currently filling several Tree Management positions.  Once these positions have been filled, Council intends to notify people who sent in submissions about trees as well as post on their web-site any decisions about trees earmarked for removal.

This is very good.  I thank Marrickville Council for their prompt response & the decision to openly communicate to the community decisions relating to tree removal.