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I love the protective seating around the Brushbox trees where the Markets are held. The footpaths are new too.
The gates with the remnant tree visible in the middle of the photo
I recently visited the Addison Road Centre in Marrickville. As soon as I drove in I noticed the lovely big gates. Are they new? I think they are, but I could be wrong.
I don’t know whether the gates are new or not because my eyes are always drawn to the gorgeous gum tree at the front that is around 155-years-old. Until relatively recently the area around the tree would have skips or other things waiting for collection. Then the area was cleaned up & since then, not used for storage. The gate is set well back from the tree, so the base is left free, which is a good for the health of the tree.
Once I drove into the Centre I could see that there have been big changes. The one I am most excited about is that the four old Queensland Brushbox trees that line the road opposite Reverse Garbage have been protected by a wooden seating structure that encases each trunk & protects the root zone directly around the tree.
The weekly markets have stalls set up beside & around these trees. Around 5,000 people attend the markets every weekend & while most people walk on the road, a lot walk in the mulched area around these trees. I have often wished these trees were protected, so I think this is an excellent move by the Centre. Plus, these structures provide seating in the shade & that is always a boon in my opinion.
Footpaths have been installed in most of the areas beside the roads to facilitate safer pedestrian access. Street signs have also been installed. I only saw one sign called Vivi Koutsounadis on the road outside Reverse Garbage & Movember Lane on the road outside Stirrup Gallery. I think it is nice to honour local citizens who have done much for the community.
Trove says the following about Vivi Koutsounadis. “Vivi Koutsounadis-Germanos is a Greek born psychologist and counsellor who helped to establish and now heads the Ethnic Childcare Development Unit based in Marrickville, Sydney, New South Wales. She has had a high level of involvement in the Sydney Greek Orthodox Community for several years and served as president of the Greek Orthodox Community of New South Wales in 2000. She helped to establish a national organisation for Greek Welfare Workers. She has also enjoyed an international profile as president of an international organisation of pre-school educators. In 2002, she went to the United Nations, where she lobbied the high commissioner of refugees about the need to tackle the problems experienced by children in detention. Order of Australia – Services to the community. HEROC Human Rights Medal.” See – https://trove.nla.gov.au/people/753062?c=people
Heritage trail signs have been placed around the Centre grounds. Most of us know that there is history to the Addison Road Centre, but I imagine that many of us do not know a great deal of this history. I confess I am one of those people. You can participate in a free guided tour every Friday morning starting at 10 am, except holidays. The tours start at the front gates & last 45 minutes.
Hut 1, the long building between the Marrickville Community Garden & The Bower, is now covered with solar panels. It looks very impressive.
The area beneath the habitat tree now has 4 new trees. If allowed to grow tall, these will help by screening & making the wildlife that use the habitat tree feel safer. The Centre has placed good information about the habitat tree at the base & this has been in place for quite a while now. Two sculptures have been added to add interest.
The garden created for little birds is doing well. It is opposite The Bower for those interested in having a look.
I am impressed by the Addison Road Centre’s obvious commitment to retaining their trees. To me it is the trees that make this a place that is very pleasant to be & it is the trees that I notice first.
That is a lot of solar panels.
New garden and trees around the Habitat Tree.
Heritage trail map
Lovely to see street trees planted so closely together
Concrete removed and new street trees in Calvert Street. You can see two other new trees across the road.
Calvert Street Marrickville would be considered a street that has “enough” street trees when comparing with many other streets in the former Marrickville LGA. Therefore, I was really happy to drive down this street earlier this week & see lots of substantial-sized newly planted street trees. I was with a friend who is an Arborist & between us there were lots of exclamations like “ooohs,” “wow” & “look at that.” Being keen on trees makes one get excited by things like this. 🙂
Today I went back on my bicycle to have a closer look & was pleased with what I saw. Inner West Council has depaved sections of the footpath on both sides of the street & planted street trees in places where there were none for at least two decades, but likely much longer.
Council planted 27-28 new trees to fill in gaps & to add in places where they tend to leave empty.
Calvert Street looks so much better for these new trees. In 7-10 years, the residents will be really benefiting from the greening of their street.
The community will also benefit as Calvert Street will be much more pleasant for pedestrians. Being a street off ‘Town Centre,’ plenty of people walk this street to get to & from the shops.
New street tree plantings in Calvert Street have a history of being vandalised, so I am very pleased that Council did not capitulate to the vandal & continued to plant street trees. None of the new trees have been vandalised that I could see, so perhaps the vandal has given up, got educated, developed a social conscience or moved on. Any of these is a win for the community.
There seems to be a change this year in where trees are being planted & with the density of planting, which I think is wonderful.
If the Inner West Council’s plan is to plant all our streets like this our urban forest canopy will increase & so will this community’s health & quality of life. There will be less respiratory diseases, such as asthma & less heart disease with fatal heart attack.
Trees help lower stress & help depressed people feel happier. Trees also lower crime rates, lower noise pollution, act as a wind buffer & help catch stormwater. Powerbills should drop significantly, as will the urban heat island effect. Trees also sequester CO2 making them a vital component in mitigating climate change.
These are just some of the benefits trees provide for residents. There is no doubt that trees make streets nicer & healthier places to live. Shade is a valuable amenity these days.
New trees wherever there is a space. Also depaving and plants added around the trees. This always improves a streetscape.
Even adding more trees in areas where in the past, one was seen to be enough. Great to see so much concrete removed too.
Showing a line of new trees planted towards the end of Livingstone Road. From nothing to leafy will be really nice. I also love that the owners of the two trees on the left made modifications to their fence to allow them to keep the trees.
I am impressed to see so many newly planted street trees being planted to actually fill in streets, where previously the number of street trees remained stationary for many years.
It looks good to see street trees planted closer together. Unless they are badly or over-pruned, the density of planting will also create decent shade once these trees grow larger & shade is much needed on our streets.
Livingstone Road Marrickville South is not one of the streets that I felt was desperately short of street trees. While I consider there are very few streets in the overall percentage in our area that don’t need at least one tree, Livingstone Road has a good number of taller trees & a relatedly good canopy when compared with other streets. Therefore, I was really pleased to see that the Inner West Council has planted new street trees much closer together, every 5-7 metres or so depending on conditions like driveways.
I was also pleased to find a tag stapled to a stake that told me these new trees are Luscious® Tristaniopsis laurina.
This tree is an Australian native that is similar in appearance to a Magnolia, which is a very popular tree, so people should like it. It grows to 7–12 metres tall & 5 metres wide at maturity, though this cannot be taken as a given due to growing conditions & importantly, pruning practices.
The leaves are large dark green & shiny with red or copper-coloured new growth. The bark is a port wine colour that peels to reveal a cream colour. Yellow sweetly perfumed flowers are produced in summer attracting bees, butterflies & other insects.
It seems that wherever I drive I see new trees & this is a change from previous years when I started being observant of these things. Thank you Council.
Further down Livingstone Road. What a positive impact these will make when grown.
Google map of Marrickville Golf Course. Mahoney Reserve is at the bottom right of the map.
A view of Marrickville Golf Course from across the Cooks River
This is important community consultation & something we should all participate in even if we are not a golfer. As our area gets more developed, places like this & the Golf Club’s activities are going to become even more important for the community.
The Inner West Council is developing a new Plan of Management & landscape Master Plans for the Marrickville Golf Course & the Dibble Avenue Waterhole, which will decide the future use & facilities over the next 10-years. It must be easier for Council to do things over a ten-year period, but for me, I worry about this length of time because our community & area is changing so rapidly.
Marrickville Golf Course covers 20-hectares, most of which is owned by the Inner West Council. The Marrickville Golf Club leases the land from Council. A condition of the lease is that they provide public access to the open spaces of the golf course.
There are many in the community that avail themselves of walking or cycling through the golf course because it is one of the best natural areas in the locality, especially as it runs alongside the Cooks River. Apart from the main road in & the path to the bridge over the river, there is no concrete & this makes it a great place to walk.
This won’t last for too long though because as part of their ‘Cooks River Parklands Plan of Management & Master Plan’ that was ratified in 2016, Council wants to install a new pedestrian crossing on Illawarra Road from Steel Park to a new 3-metre wide concrete shared pathway along the river’s edge in Mahoiney Reserve after they have completed naturalization work on the river bank. The first stage will stop at the golf course, but Council would like to connect this path to the bridge over the Cooks River in Marrickville Golf Course. This is despite the 3-metre shared pathway just across on the other side of the river.
The Dibble Avenue Waterhole is heritage listed & is also a Priority Biodiversity Site. It is an important refuge for wildlife & aquatic plants.
Marrickville Golf Club uses water from the Dibble Avenue Waterhole to irrigate the golf course & has done so since the 1940s.
Council says that “the development of the plans provides opportunities to introduce best practice sustainable land & environmental management for both sites.”
“The process will look at –
- ways to improve safe public access to the golf course.
- ways to increase everyone’s enjoyment of the spaces.
- alternative water sources for the golf course.
- acceptable limits on water extraction[from Dibble Avenue Waterhole] into the future.”
Council is holding onsite opportunities for the community to learn more & give Council feedback at two locations.
- Marrickville Golf Club Carpark on Saturday 2ndJune 2018 from 1pm-3pm.
- Mahoney Reserve beside the Amenities Block on Saturday, 16thJune 2018 from 1pm-3pm.
If you don’t want to attend either of these sessions, you can still participate by completing a survey on Your Say Inner West by Monday 25thJune 2018. See – https://bit.ly/2LtnPNQ
Lastly, there is no mention in the survey of Council’s plans to halve the Marrickville Golf Course from 18 holes to 9 holes to make room for more sporting fields. See – https://bit.ly/2GRxf28
Dibble Avenue Waterhole – a biodiversity hotspot & returned to being one of Marrickville’s really beautiful historic places. There is a microbat box on the pier on the left.
Showing the row of palm trees opposite the pool. Note the gum tree closest to the right. Is this another indication that the palms will be removed? I love gum trees, but once they drop a branch, many in the community demand the offending tree be removed because they are seen as dangerous.
Showing one of the paths being worked on.
Inner West Council has given notice of their intention to remove 5 “small trees adjacent to paths to be reconstructed this financial year.”
They gave the following reasons –
- “The two figs are in very poor condition & have not improved over the last ten years.
- The two water gums are impacted with the pathway reconstruction & widening.
- The palm tree in the central rondel to allow for a larger canopy tree to be planted & enhance the views along the path axes.”
They say they will replace these trees this year between April to June 2018 with-
- 1 × Ficus rubiginosa (1000L)
- 1 × Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Rotundiloba’ (300L)
- 1 × Eucalyptus pilularis (75L)
- 1 × Ficus macrophylla (100L)
I went to have a look at the trees a couple of weekends ago & as far as I could make out, they had all been removed. The areas where work was happening had been fenced off with cyclone fencing & shade cloth making it hard to see what was happening. The only tree I could identify with confidence was the palm in the central rondel & that had already been removed.
Prior to amalgamation Marrickville Council used to give 3-weeks for community consultation concerning tree removal. I suspect now the new Inner West Council puts up notification as they start work or very close to the commencement of work. I am not sure yet. Certainly, the way they now do community consultation has changed. They no longer give a period of notification with a deadline to contact the Council.
Two trees are being removed to widen the path. I do not know whether the trees were located on one side of the path or one tree on each side. Council does not say where all, but one tree is located.
It is worth thinking that all the paths have been like they were in 1943. See an aerial map of Enmore Park taken in 1943 on Marrickville Heritage Society’s blog. See – https://bit.ly/2rwAczp, Why does Council need to widen the paths that have been this way for at least more than 7 decades? The paths are certainly wide enough to give equal access.
The last time Council removed trees in Enmore Park was in October 2013 where they removed 15 trees, most of them old Moreton Bay & Port Jackson Fig trees. See – https://bit.ly/2rvDNh0
One big Fig was removed from the corner of Llewellyn Street & Enmore Road & its trunk is still rotting slowly away in Steel Park Marrickville South. If I am correct & the two Fig trees to be removed are in the same location, it will mean the corner will be bare indeed.
I have reservations about removing very old heritage trees even if they are in poor condition. My reasons are that trees can be helped to recover, whereas our public trees do not get much help in terms of nutrients. They get by with whatever rainfall they can get & nothing else.
Enmore Park is heritage-listed. It was the first park to be established in Marrickville municipality, opening in two sections in May 1886 & on October 1893. The Fig trees were likely planted at this time & therefore are heritage items too.
I think efforts could have been made to take care of them. However, if Council has been making efforts to improve their health by providing them with water & nutrients, then I will retract these comments & admit my error.
Looking at fig trees in Petersham Park I can see the some are in declining health, but these trees still stand proud & everyone who sees them loves them. I suspect it is the same for the Fig trees in Enmore Park as well.
I felt sad to see the big healthy palm tree in the central rondel had been removed for what appears to be Council’s design preference & not because the tree was sick, dangerous or inappropriate for the location.
To me removing this tree does not make sense considering this tree matched all the other palm trees that run both side of the pathway from Enmore Road to the central rondel & then only on one side due to the building of the pool, which resulted in a loss of more than 50 trees. If you look down this row of trees, they take your eye onwards up Addison Road.
To replace with a “larger canopy tree”interrupts these two rows of palm trees, which are a strong feature of this park. I hope the removal of this central palm does not indicate a future plan to remove all the palms.
Lastly Council removing 5 trees & replacing with only 4 trees is very disappointing.
Central rondel with stump of palm tree
Showing the central rondel without the palm tree and the row of palm trees that take the eye to Addison Road.
A lovely fig trees in Marrickville Golf Course.
“Every year, between 3 & 4 million people around the world die as a result of air pollution & its lifelong impacts on human health, from asthma to cardiac disease to strokes.
Each summer, thousands of unnecessary deaths result from heat waves in urban areas. Studies have shown that trees are a cost-effective solution for both of these challenges.
And too often, the presence or absence of urban nature – & its myriad benefits – is tied to a neighbourhood’s income level, resulting in dramatic health inequities. In some American cities, life expectations in different neighbourhoods, located just a few miles apart, can differ by as much as a decade. Not all of this health disparity is connected to tree cover, but researchers are increasingly finding that neighbourhoods with fewer trees have worse health outcomes, so inequity in access to urban nature makes worse health inequities.” ~ The Nature Conservancy 2017.
The report may have been about America’s urban forest, but it makes no difference. The findings are useful world-wide, including our little patch in Sydney’s Inner West.
In my assessment the quality of the urban forest & the canopy cover of the former Marrickville municipality has not changed since the 2014 report, ‘Benchmarking Australia’s Urban Tree Canopy: An i–Tree Assessment, Final Report.’
Now we are amalgamated with Ashfield & Leichhardt municipalities, their urban forest becomes our concern & visa versa. In 2014 the three municipalities scored the following –
Leichhardt was the winner with a 20.3% tree canopy & 59.8% hard surfaces.
Ashfield won second place with a 19.8% tree cover & 57.4% hard surfaces.
Marrickville came last with an abysmal 16.3% tree canopy & 63.4% hard surfaces.
This is not to say Inner West Council – Marrickville are not planting trees. They are. They reported that they planted 1,000 street trees across the three former municipalities, which I think is not much & not nearly what is needed. Council also removes trees. Development is having an impact on the canopy & so is vandalism. WestConnex is having a massive impact on tree removal along its above ground route.
I am not familiar with Ashfield, but having lived in the Inner West for the past 40-years, I am familiar with many of the streetscapes across the former Leichhardt & Marrickville municipalities. I look at street trees that have been there for more than my 40-years & this is a great thing to see. I am one of those people who love to look at trees. They make me feel comfortable. Treeless landscapes or skylines make me feel flat & oppressed. Recent research has found my response is normal. The research found that few trees in the landscape results in greater rates of depression & kids finding it hard to learn & retain information amongst other things.
My wish for 2018 is for the Inner West Council to significantly increase funding for street trees, parks & other green spaces. If our area is to be made greener & healthier for us, then the number of street trees & park trees planted need to increase substantially. More trees please.
It takes at least a decade for most trees to grow to a size where they have a visual impact, so if we are to get the amenity from trees like shade & clean air, then we need to get trees into the ground as soon as possible. I say “most” because I have seen how fast a Poplar takes to reach a significant height. These trees grow so fast you can almost watch it happen.
No-one can deny that it is hard being out on the streets in this hot summer weather. I’ve been out most days & noticed that a lot of people are not coming out of their homes until 4pm or later due to the heat & lack of shade.
We in the community need to do our bit too. We need to plant a tree or shrub in our garden if we have the space to do so. We also need to make concrete gardens a thing of the past & give stamped concrete driveways the flick too. These only make our house hotter & we pay higher power bills as a result.
I was very impressed with Inner West Council – Marrickville’s free tree giveaway for 2016-2017. It is a terrific initiative & will build upon the urban forest. I hope the tree giveaway becomes a regular feature for National Tree Day.
Community attitudes toward trees are changing. I have noticed more people like & want public trees compared to when I started this blog in 2009, which is great & something Council should capitalise on.
With climate change making our seasons hotter, we need to make the changes that will cool down our streets & public spaces & planting trees is a major way to achieve this. Plus, trees are beautiful & soften the landscape. They make us feel good even when we are not aware of this. They help keep us healthy & happy & they bring in more wildlife. So, let’s make 2018 the year of tree awareness & get more trees in the ground.
Happy New Year. I hope this is an excellent year for you & your loved ones. Thank you for reading. I appreciate it. Jacqueline 🙂
Council did well to plant a gum tree here in this perfect place on Myrtle Street Marrickville, but someone did not think so. It was vandalised 3 times….until it was dead. Thanks – not.
This photo was sent to me by a local resident. As you can see, there is a significant amount of the canopy on the ground ready to go through the woodchopper. The tree that was pruned is visible behind the woodchopper. Thanks to the resident for allowing me to use this photo.
It is the season of peace & goodwill & I would prefer to be writing positive posts. However, I am getting messages from distressed residents about Inner West Council – Marrickville’s tree pruning, so I need to write something.
Inner West Council is currently pruning the street trees in Marrickville South. I spoke to Council’s tree pruners earlier this year, so I was surprised when they were back again so soon.
Our street trees get “managed” from all directions – Ausgrid, development & Council. Vandals also do things to the street trees, though I am not suggesting that Council are vandals. Imagine having three groups coming on a regular basis to give you a haircut & maybe lop your ears off. It is no wonder so many street trees look unattractive.
My observation with pruners is that they come once to prune. The next time they come they take off more branches that were deemed okay the last visit & no, they haven’t grown so much to be noticeable. Ausgrid does this & over. In a very short time, the trees get reduced into a shadow of their former self. Ausgrid prunes the top & Council prunes the bottom.
Inner West Council – Marrickville says on their website –
“Street trees will be pruned to:
- Remove any dead, dying or dangerous branches
- Allow clearance for pedestrians and vehicles
- Allow clearance to buildings (where practicable)
- Improve their health and structure.”
So, what is the problem? This is what has been relayed to me.
“I had no knowledge that this was happening today;… Apparently, they are pruning to Australian standards & to protect workers so grass can be mowed, and so footpath is clear & people can walk to their cars. [they] were saying most people want the trees cut out!!” Sounds reasonable except if you know the tree was not causing a problem to begin with. I know this tree. It was not intruding on the footpath, nor did it prevent people from getting to their car. What it did have was branches low down on the trunk & as far as I have observed, this is not acceptable by Council.
“This work is being done on the smaller trees to “shape them” and make it easier for council to cut grass from base of trees and away from pedestrians using footpath. This means that the trees look like pom poms and the removal of the dense bottom canopy is not appealing at all to me.”
“Contractor tried to tell me it’s not my tree & I have no right to protest it’s being trimmed; when I lovingly water it I feel I have some say in its up keep! And will continue fighting for it to live!!!!” The photo above will show you just how much of the bottom canopy of this tree was removed.
The residents do not believe the trees needed pruning & if the tree did by Council’s standards, the residents believe that the pruning was excessive.
It is heatwave conditions at the moment. The weather forecast for the next week is four days well above 30 degrees & five days of extreme UV index. It can’t be good for trees to undergo so much stress in these weather conditions. I recently learnt that trees can get sunburnt. We still have the really hot months ahead of us.
The trees are in flower providing much needed food for wildlife & also beauty for the streetscape. Many people wait for the flowers on trees to bloom. Much of the flowers went into the woodchipper.
Surely it is better to prune trees when they aren’t in flower. It would not matter so much if we had tonnes of food-producing trees across Inner West Council – Marrickville’s section, but we don’t. Bird-life would not be missing out on essential food supply.
Inner West Council Marrickville says on their website –
“Proactive maintenance based on an annual cycle and is carried out in within a precinct according to the calendar month, i.e. January is precinct one, February is precinct two and so on.”
I downloaded their map & saw that Marrickville South is allocated June, the 6th month. It is December, the 12th month. Enter the website via the Marrickville portal & they say they are doing street tree maintainance & list streets in Balmain. That’s a bit confusing.
To finish, I do believe Council needs to ensure that their pruners do not over prune. Council put up signs saying Ausgrid was over pruning trees. This was great & wonderfully supportive for the community who were reeling from the damage to street trees done by Ausgrid pruners. What is not so great is the community perception that Council are doing the same.
One of three Environmental Vandalism signs put up by Inner West Council
It seems some have missed the beauty of the Cooks River. Rather than pay a tipping fee, they think it is okay to sneak up the pedestrian path & dump a trailer load or three of building rubble into the river. It is such a shame that a small financial gain for the vandal destroys our precious river environment.
The former Marrickville Council has worked for years to improve the health & ecology of the river, as have other Councils along the river. Community group The Mudcrabs have also spent countless hours planting the riverbank & cleaning litter from the river. I doubt whoever the vandal is has ever thought about this.
To protect our river & to stop this happening again, the Inner West Council needs to install bollards/gates at all entrance points. Of course, these can allow entry to Council vehicles, but anyone else – no. Not doing this means that Council runs the risk of someone dumping chemicals or other toxic substances into the river & causing a mass killing event of those creatures that live in the river. This cannot be allowed to happen.
I thank Council for their speed in acting & for the community education by way of signs. It is good for people to know about this. I also hope the dumped debris is cleaned up fast.
Dumped into the Cooks River at Marrickville. This does matter. Photo taken at low tide.
The new area. This and the photo below shows the whole site.
Sometime during winter the Inner West Council – Marrickville cleared the grass below & around their latest ‘habitat trees’ in Mackey Park. The cordoned off area lay there for a few weeks until it was covered with wood chip. About a fortnight ago I noticed that the area had been planted with small plants like native grasses. The more areas that support wildlife the better in my opinion.
Hopefully it fills out.
The tree for removal has a blue sign on the trunk. It is unaffected by power lines.
The Inner West Council has given notice of their intention to remove a Spotted gum (Corymbia maculata) outside 7 Hilltop Avenue Marrickville dated 7 October 2017.
They give the following reasons –
- “The tree is structurally compromised & has multiple trunk defects. These defects will increase size as the tree matures & further impact the sustainability of the tree.
- The tree in its current state presents an unacceptable risk to the public & property.”
The trunk defeats are easy to see. It is a shame that this tree needs to be removed.
Council says they will replace with 2 x advanced-sized Coastal Banksias (banksia integrifolia), but not when they will do this.
Replacing two for one tree is great & I thank Council for this. Small changes like this will build on our urban forest.
Coastal Banksia is native to the east coast of Australia. It will reach heights between 4-15 metres & produces flowers from late summer to winter. It is a food source for nectar-eating birds, seed-eating birds, insects & possums.
No deadline for submissions was given, but up to now it has always been 3-weeks from notification. If you have something to say contact the Tree Manager.
Showing the “trunk defects.”
SAVING OUR TREES - Marrickville municipality 
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