Marrickville – beautiful from this angle

1.  The founder of Running Bare clothing, Sydney fashion mogul Brian Clifford Powell was fined $120,000 & ordered to pay nearly $50,000 in costs to the Office of Environment & Heritage for destroying 600-hundred trees on his property without permission.  Mr Powell said, “he had moved any koalas on first – by banging on their trees with a hammer. Any koalas that didn’t move were picked up in hessian bags & relocated. I was rescuing the koalas.”  Conservation at its best!  He runs a company, but did not know that he needed a DA or that Koalas & Koala habitat just may be a tiny-bit important?  http://bit.ly/LDZkw8

2.   An Oak tree estimated at 200-years-old was chopped down in Auckland for a development & this was allowed because the community did not register the tree as ‘notable.’ “The Government’s removal of general tree protection rules became effective on January 1. In order to protect a tree, it now has to be listed as “notable” by Auckland Council.”  Unbelievably sad.  Considering how few people actually participate in community consultation as a norm, one would think that someone at Auckland Council would also speak up for such a special heritage tree, even though this tree was on private property.   http://bit.ly/LB2tem

3.  A Banyan tree thought to be more than 5,000-years-old has become a victim of politicking by two parties who claim ownership of the tree.  The tree is said to be from the time of the Mahabharata & where Krishna spoke the Bhagvad Gita to Arjuna.  “ …the area surrounding the tree has been covered with marble pavement & it can’t draw nutrients for its growth. Fancy lights & lamps are fitted with nails on the tree for lighting during night & big bells are tied all over it. The ‘holy thread’ tied by the visitors has covered most of the lower branches. Tying threads is considered to be wish-fulfilling. Sadly, chunks of branches were also chopped off recently by the caretakers without any expert advice.” It is awfully sad to lose this tree, not just because of its historical connections, but also because of its age.  It should be treated as a living treasure & an asset to humanity. Certainly trees of this age elsewhere around the world are treated as such, so why not India?  http://bit.ly/NrnDwE

4.   Denise Morrison had all the plants, shrubs & trees on her property chopped down to ground level staff of the City of Tulsa in the US because, the city ordinance says, “plants cannot be over 12-inces tall unless they are for human consumption.”  Her garden was, “filled with flowers in bloom, lemon, stevia, garlic chives, grapes, strawberries, apple mint, spearmint, peppermint, an apple tree, walnut tree, pecan tree & much more.”  Apparently someone complained about her garden. Ms Morrison is suing the Council. Astounding.  There is a short video here – http://bit.ly/LevAWt

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