Tonight Marrickvile Council will be chopping down an old Melaleuca that is about 20-25 metres tall because a water pipe broke underneath the tree. Apparently the roots of the tree broke the pipe cutting off water supply to houses along one side of the bottom of Cary Street.
It appears that the roots of the tree were severed during exploratory excavation. Sydney Water workers said that Marrickville Council decided that the tree was dangerous & was to be cut down tonight.
I went down there & had a look in the hole. Yes, roots near the surface had been cut, but I could see no thick roots at all. To me they looked like thin surface roots, but I am not an expert.
The community had some questions –
- Could the new pipe, which is quite small, have been fed through the roots under the tree & be reconnected on either side, therefore keeping the tree?
- Could they create a by-pass pipe around the tree like the telephone company does with big trees?
- Could the tree not be braced while any needed roots grew back? A Fig tree that fell over on the Bradfield Park North Sydney was craned upright, propped & is standing free, alive & healthy 5-years later.
- Could a temporary water pipe be installed to run along the footpath as what happened for a few weeks in 2011 so no house has to go without water? This would allow the situation to be reassessed during the day where the outcome may be different.
The local community did not understand why the tree needed to be chopped down. They felt that removing the tree was the most expedient way for Council to manage the situation & that there could very well be other alternatives that allow for this magnificent tree to be saved that may be cheaper than chopping a tree down at night. There was a belief that this would not have happened in other municipalities. The Sydney Water workers were not worried about it falling saying that Council decided to remove it. I don’t know. I’m just reporting the news.
Showing one side of the excavation – it’s a big tree.
4 comments
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May 19, 2012 at 2:25 pm
Helayne
I heard a chainsaw at 12.20am last night and went looking. As I left my house I heard cracking and a big thud. I live on Unwins Bridge road in Tempe…yes this was a big tree. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I got to the corner of Cary and Excelsior I think, the tree was lying on the road…gone…all for a water pipe?
I agree, another solution should have been looked at. Surely the water pipe could have been replaced by relocating it around the tree. I have seen big trees that roots have been cut through for sewerage work and it didn’t kill them or cause them to suddenly ‘fall over’. Cutting roots does not necessarily destabilize a tree at all. Surely the cost of relocating pipes, digging up the footpath etc, would have worth saving such a beautiful tree.
This proves once again the lack of value our Council has for trees. This tree was a mature beautiful paper bark that added to the beauty of the streetscape.
And why did they chainsaw it down at 12.20am at night? This tree was not at risk of immediate collapse. Surely the street would have been blocked off if it was. I reckon it was done in the dark of night to stop residents from intervening to save the tree.
May 19, 2012 at 6:39 pm
April Browne
Chain-sawing at midnite is very strange behaviour. Maybe the council thinks everyone is fast asleep.
May 19, 2012 at 8:30 pm
Kristina
Situations like these make me think that Marrickville Council is a senseless council that fails to see a larger picture with ameliorative solutions.
The tree is punished for being a tree. It is given no respect or value.
The environment is punished by losing a tree that by simply being a tree constantly gives quality life to us.
Residents are disrespected by having no say in this matter, and by losing the tree.
So goes yet another message to the public that Marrickville Council does not value trees.
A very sad state of affairs.
May 20, 2012 at 1:13 pm
whimsicat
it is an extraordinary tale of events … such rapid rash action without research in to alternatives or consultation, and at midnight???? it’s not like authorities do not temporarily close down roads at any time they like during the day for maintenance work, so why choose the dead of night? it is hard to try and NOT read something sinister in the timing.