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The University of Tasmania have just completed a 3 year nation-wide study as to why some people prefer a leafy front garden while others don’t. Interestingly, tertiary educated people preferred trees & the higher the income, the more trees. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/03/2888948.htm
An unusual story of public tree removal in Newport: The Cumberland Courier reported that an unspecified number of trees & scrub has been removed from Barenjoey Road by Pittwater Council. Residents requested the trees be removed saying the trees were not native & removing them would open up the area to ocean views from North Newport. http://cumberland-courier.whereilive.com.au/news/story/trees-removed-barrenjoey-views-restored/
Pittwater Council’s Natural Environment Reference Group has submitted a plan to have all new DAs required to maintain wildlife corridors across their land. This would also include retaining dead trees, as these are especially important for providing homes for a variety of wildlife. The new plan specifically targets the protection of Green-&-Gold Bell Frogs, Swift Parrots, Squirrel Gliders, Southern Brown Bandicoots & (would you believe they are even there) Koalas. Any DA will also be required to plant more trees & wildlife sustaining landscaping. http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/protection-plan-for-endangered-animals/
Mid April 2010 North Sydney Council decided to explore the idea of replanting garden beds in parks & reserves with vegetables. http://cumberland-courier.whereilive.com.au/news/story/councillors-dig-vegie-patch-idea/
North Sydney Council stopped mowing verges early 2009, but after complaints from residents, they will now do a one-off mow at the cost of $58,000. They also intend to reinstate verge mowing by the end of 2010.
Just as an aside, I was told Marrickville Council spends about $2 million per year mowing our verges. Makes me wonder what that that money could be used for if we just mowed our own & our neighbours if they didn’t have a mower. $2 million could repair the Coptic Church in Sydenham for history’s sake & for community use or it could buy a lot of street & park trees amongst many other things. I saw a sign in Catherine Street Leichhardt yesterday that read something like – ‘2.3 million dollar footpath upgrade.’ Or we could just grow veggie or flower gardens on our verges. http://cumberland-courier.whereilive.com.au/news/story/nature-strips-to-be-mowed-soon/
Energy Australia has angered the community once again by ‘butchering’ 2 large trees in Allambie Heights shopping centre. http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/locals-angry-over-allambie-tree-butchery/
An 18 metre high Port Jackson Fig tree with a canopy spreading about 15 metres listed on the Significant Tree Register of City of Sydney Council was removed last month due to extensive rot. It was part of a row of Figs in Joynton Aveneue Zetland. The lost tree will be replaced by a mature Port Jackson Fig. http://cumberland-courier.whereilive.com.au/news/story/urgent-removal-of-fig-tree-in-zetland/
City of Sydney Council has joined with Marrickville Council in formally opposing the M5 extension that will go through Tempe Reserve, over Tempe Wetlands & terminate at Euston Road at Sydney Park. Terrific news. http://sydney-central.whereilive.com.au/news/story/sydney-council-formally-opposes-m5-extension/
It will be interesting to learn how the trial at removing smog in the M5 during March went. http://cumberland-courier.whereilive.com.au/news/story/m5-pollution-trial/
A home up for sale in the Brisbane suburb of Mackenzie incurred $20,000 damage after the front garden was excavated & 10 Palm trees stripped down by unknown workers who fled when people came to watch. It is thought they were working on the wrong property. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/7685319/Australian-workmen-dig-up-wrong-garden.html
Finishing the ongoing story about the trees in the carpark of Walmart in Henderson Tennessee that were savagely pruned recently, Walmart have been ordered to replace 100 of the Elm trees. This will cost them around US$25,000. http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asp?S=12213247
row of trees along a footpath in Birchgrove
Another tree lost from the St Vincent's de Paul complex at Lewisham - photo taken by Brigette - thanks
1. It’s with sadness I report another tree has gone from the St Vincent de Paul complex at Lewisham. This time one of the lovely Eucalypts has been removed from the front of The Rectory in Thomas Street. I was told recently that they intend to remove all the Eucalypts in the complex because of dropping branches, which is a crying shame because they all have 2-3 metre plus girths so they will be doing a terrific job at sequestering CO2.
All the Eucalypts are straight growing & as far as I can tell, don’t pose a threat to nearby buildings. Most importantly, they support local wildlife. I witnessed a family of Kookaburras perched in one & was told many birds have made these trees their home.
I don’t understand why a dying branch can’t be pruned. Chopping the whole tree down seems to be overkill. Oh well, less loveliness in the area & more cement.
The locals are extremely unhappy about the removal of this tree & some cried while they watched it being chopped down. I can relate as I could not bear to watch the Stanmore Gum be removed last month as I knew it would be too upsetting.
2. Marrickville Council’s web-site has 2 street trees up for removal. The first in Dixon Street Dulwich Hill is an old Eucalypt. It’s a lovely tree, but it is riddled with borers & if left, will most definitely fall down. I’d guess it to be of the stock that was planted in the early 70s.
This Dixon Street Eucalypt in Dulwich Hill is riddled with borers
The second tree is in Belmore Street Enmore. This tree also has significant & obvious problems. If left, it is likely to drop at least one branch soon. Pruning will not help it as it has deep rot high up in its branches & in parts of its trunk.
Remember this post, because I have agreed 2 trees should be removed.
2 other trees up for removal are in Ivanhoe Street Marrickville. They both have signs on them, but there is no mention of them on Council’s web-site. Why? How many other street trees go this way without notification on Council’s web-site?
3. The Cumberland Courier reported that Ryde City Council has just received a government grant of $97,566 to help protect fauna. This is great news for the significant wildlife corridors between the Lane Cove & Parramatta Rivers. http://cumberland-courier.whereilive.com.au/news/story/funding-to-help-fix-up-habitat-for-our-wildlife/
4. Another Cumberland Courier news item reported that Liverpool Council is calling for suggestions for sites where they should undertake bush regeneration. This will be funded by their environment levy. Liverpool Mayor Waller said they have “funded some 30 bush regeneration projects…planted 147,757 trees & restored about 12.4km of creek line.” Not bad! This is a significant amount of tree planting & will be of major benefit as the years pass & the trees grow. http://cumberland-courier.whereilive.com.au/news/story/help-restore-liverpool-sites-to-their-natural-beauty/
5. The Cumberland Courier reported that Hornsby Council has a problem. Local heritage Bunya trees dropped a 7kg nut through a roof of a resident’s house. They will debate whether to pay for the seasonal removal of the Bunya nuts or chop the trees down.
I know which option I would choose. How many Bunya trees are there in Sydney? A day’s work (maximum) removing the nuts & the community gets to keep important & beautiful trees. Has Hornsby Council ever thought of asking the local Aboriginal people if they would like the nuts? I understand they taste wonderful & are prized bush tucker. http://cumberland-courier.whereilive.com.au/news/story/bunya-debate-to-be-heard-by-full-council/
6. The Herald Scotland reported fantastic news that gained international attention & applause. The Scottish Government’s Scotland Rural Development Program has given a grant of 1 million pounds to create 600 acres of new native woodland & 193 acres of productive conifer woodland. The area is the size of 323 international rugby pitches & will be planted out with 450,000 trees that are expected to sequester around 130,000 tonnes of CO2 over 50 years. Interesting also is that Scotland is aiming to become zero carbon producers. http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/transport-environment/450-000-trees-set-to-be-planted-in-woodland-scheme-1.1006809
7. The UN’s Billion Tree Campaign released its achievements saying that, by the end of 2009, participants in 170 countries had planted 7.4 billion trees (not a typo) This gives me hope for the future. http://www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign/
8. Residents in Pittsfield Township, Ann Arbor USA came out & stopped the power company ITC Holdings Corp from chopping down several 25 year old trees which were within 10 metres of power lines. The residents sought & were granted a restraining order against the company until a court hearing on 24 February 2010. Interesting reading & commendable commitment from residents. http://www.annarbor.com/news/pittsfield-township-homeowners-block-power-companys-attempts-to-cut-trees-today/
9. A letter was published in the Pub Beaufort Island Gazette, Hilton Head Island USA refuting the local airport’s stance that they need to chop down 1,400 trees on airport property & another 983 trees on private property supposedly for safety of planes. However, removing these trees will seriously affect noise control & the area is a Bald Eagle habitat amongst other issues. phttp://www.islandpacket.com/opinion/letters/story/1135750.html
this street tree in Belmore St Enmore is diseased
10. If we lived in Portland Oregon, we would have the opportunity to be involved in their City-Wide Tree Project, which is deciding on regulations for trees to complement their urban forestry plan. Portland is making the news a lot recently because they have officially recognised the benefits of street trees & have recently proven that property values increase significantly when there is a healthy street tree out front. They calculate the benefit of a street tree at US$7,000 citing this is the cost of a new bathroom. Try seeing what you get for that kind of money here! House prices in Portland are also significantly cheaper than in Sydney.
Portland plans to increase their tree canopy by 50,000 street trees & 33,000 garden trees by 2015 (again, not a typo) to improve the lives of citizens & wildlife as well as help combat the effects of global warming. This is quite different form the recent recommendation in a Marrickville Council report to councillors to remove 1,000 street trees a year for the next 5 years. The report did propose to replace them with saplings, but how beneficial this will be is questionable as it says most do not survive. http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/02/street_trees_increase_home_val.html
11. To end, Thornlie (Perth) man Richard Pennicuik is still sitting up in the street tree out front of his house after commencing his protest on 5th December 09 to stop Gosling Council from removing the street trees. Judging by comments on internet-based reports about him, views about his protest are polarized. Some think he is a hero. Others are filled with hatred toward him. Strange that people would be so abusive toward someone they don’t know & whose actions have zilch effect on them. Me, I admire him & wish him success.
SAVING OUR TREES - Marrickville municipality 
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