I noticed a DA application nearby that includes the removal of several trees. This includes mature Eucalypts, Casuarinas and Calistimons. So I rang the council because the comment period has elapsed and they said lodge a complaint anyway. I looked at the plans which are for a fast food ...another one ? and a petrol station, boring !! and most of these plants are on the boundary anyway. One tree seems to be in the way.
What do I need to say in my email?
How does this work? Any info would be good
Now I want to get elected to council so I can make everyone plant trees everywhere! no seriously I want to enact council regulations that insist on a green belt around these so-called 'developments'
Sounds like they're up to no good again, Margaret. Your passion & enthusiasm in trying to stem this proposed tide of wanton destruction is to be commended. However, I'd be very wary about galloping off in all directions at once with no one but yourself for company. A recipe for disappointment, I'd suggest.
By all means lodge your individual protest by whatever means are acceptable under council/planning rules & regulations. It won't do any harm & it might do some good. Nevertheless, any objection you make needs to be specific about the value of the trees to you, others, the environment & local amenity. Avoid unnecessary words & sentences. Polite, brief & to the point is more likely to be read. However, given that the date for formal objections has expired your protest might be too late for this to have an impact. It depends a lot on what the rules say about late objections.
What I would suggest would have more impact is if you seek allies within council & the community to help in retaining the trees and to have regulations enacted for the establishment of green belts around developments. This would mean finding out, if you can, who on council (if anyone) doesn't like the idea of trees removal. Find out who has lodged objections to the proposed trees removal & discuss with them the idea of joint action. Is there a local environment group you can team up with? What do the people living adjacent to the trees think of their proposed removal? You may not have to run for office if you or a group you can join forces with can persuade sufficient current councillors to your way of thinking. If there's no environment group on the case, would you be able to gather support for a Save the Seven Trees group?
One tactic which can be useful is to point out to council that their environmental credentials will be enhanced if they disapprove the proposed trees removal. Show them how they can gain power, recognition, influence, kudos, ego strength from protecting the trees & establishing green belts. Perhaps tree retention might even fit with their carbon abatement policy, if they have one, but they don't understand this.
Visit your local newspaper office & chat with the reporter responsible for environment/development matters. Guage whether the newspaper is sympathetic towards trees or whether it's in the pro-development anti-Earth camp. If you can, enlist the reporter's participation in publicising what's going on. The reporter might already be on to it & know of who's involved in objecting to the proposal.
Often, if you're able to be part of a strong community objection to the trees removal, a compromise is reached whereby some trees are retained or the developer offers to plant replacements in another location. While this is usually environmental destruction by stealth it's important to find out, if you can, what the developer is prepared to come at. E.g., in return for removal of the trees the developer might be happy to set aside some land for the planting of indigenous vegetation if it's named Development Park (or even Oxymoronic Park!) I'm not suggesting that this idea fits your local situation but it's the sort of thing that can happen.
It's important to have realistic expectations in all this. Be prepared for lots of stonewalling from pro-development councillors & others. If you've watched Yes Minister on TV you'll have some idea of the way bureaucrats work & don't work. Believe me, real life makes Yes Minister look like a Sunday School picnic. I say this not to deter you or dampen your enthusiasm but rather so that you can prepare yourself for hard work & long battles & protect yourself against abject disappointment. It's a good idea to have a box of bandaids to apply to the likely blisters on your forehead from bashing your head against the council brick wall.
By the way, I really like your idea of green belts around developments. Of course, apart from hiding what are usually monstrosities, they provide habitat for local wildlife, especially if belts comprise indigenous species. It was Colonel William Light who is famous for planning Adelaide's parklands, a green belt around the city centre. So the precedent is there. It's a model for your council to copy, notwithstanding developers' recent encroachments on Light's brainchild.
Good luck, Margaret. Let's know how it turns out.
That is very detailed woko. so if they get an objection to a proposed DA what happens? maybe I should go back to the boring Labor Party meetings and join ... because one of the regulars is a local councillor and i helped out at 2 polling days (to further another agenda of mine - to get a person out of Villawood detention centre)
Well i looked at the council's Street Tree policy and it is very good, in depth and i could use their own objectives to support my argument. However this DA does have a proposed and detailed landscape plan which includes 29 trees, they also have a lot of shrubs which include callistemon, grevilleas and Lilly Pillys and other exotics. So they may be claiming to have all this and not actually do it so they can knock down the trees there. Here it is
if they plant all this, there will be a lot more there than there is now so maybe i shouldn't complain, however the eucalypts are large and have taken years to grow - maybe I should just complain about their destruction.
There are no neighbours to complain, it's a main road, the ugliest road in Sydney. On one side there is a school and on the other is a furniture store. At the moment the site has a lot of rubbish and an old pizza hut building. It is all fenced off.
I am surprised about the lack of preservation of those mature trees
I thought that there was an Australian Standard now that Councils had to adhere to that meant this was almost impossible
Peter
Margaret, I think you're on the right track in reading council's street tree policy. As you imply, this gives you a good basis from which to lodge your objections, particularly if the proposed development contradicts that policy. Good one! If any contradiction can be widely publicised it will have so much more impact.
There is indeed the Australian Tree Standard for the protection of trees. Visit http://www.infolink.com.au/c/Standards-Australia-301388/First-Australian-Standard-for-the-protection-of-trees-on-development-sites-introduced-n869052. Your council may not even know about this or may have overlooked it. To cut them some slack, councils are inundated with paper work & it's hard to keep every law & regulation in mind, especially in the case of freshly elected councils. So pointing this out to council could be helpful but it needs to be backed by wide publicity of any contradiction between the stadard & the development application.
Just because you formally object to a development application doesn't mean your objection will be upheld. For example, in my area, there were about 370 formal objections to a massive housing development in Mt Barker & 4 in favour if I remember rightly. The development was approved. It depends on who's in bed with whom & how much the decision makers' interests are threatened. Fundamentally, it's all about power & control & money making. A lot depends on whether there are enough objectors to the application to threaten the power of councillors. The more noise & publicity from the objectors the more the decision makers' power will be threatened, especially at the next council elections.
I'm concerned that any developer would remotely consider the removal of old Eucalypts, especially if they (the Eucalypts) are indigenous to the area. Such trees provide enormous environmental & amenity benefits & take centuries to replace. They provide not only food in the form of nectar & insects but also nesting material & hollows for birds, bats, possums & native bees.
I'm also concerned about the list of plants proposed to replace the removed vegetation. There are many exotic species there which will do little or nothing for biodiversity. I wonder if they fit with any council biodiversity policy. Encouraging council to plant species indigenous to the area would do much more to promote a healthy environment. Council could publicise it as a unique part of the development & thereby earn kudos. It could be a first step for them in re-introducing some of the once local birdlife to the area. By the way, does council's street tree policy need an update to allow for biodiversity improvement?
There's a lot to work there & your suggestion about focussing on the proposed removal of mature trees could be a good way of organising priorities & ensuring you don't spread yourself too thinly.
Yes nothing like buxus to create a really boring landscape!
Thanks Woko, I put that link in, and I tried to keep it short. I mentioned their street tree policy but didn't go over it. One of the councillors might help, because I helped out on polling day and there is also election coming up. I cced to him. Ok here is what i wrote:
Removal of Trees
Development Application 157/2012 seeks to remove the following trees on the property at 272-274 WOODVILLE Road, Guildford.
Existing Casuarinas and Bottlebrush on southern boundary
2 Eucalypts on the Woodville Road Boundary
1 Eucalypt on the western boundary.
Objections to the removal of these trees
These trees are all on the boundary of the property, there appears to be no reason to remove them except for the one at the back on the site of a proposed building.
These are developed trees, some of which have taken many years to reach their current stage of maturity. These cannot be replaced in a short timeframe.
Guildford has very few mature trees in this area which contributes to a lack of aesthetic appeal.
Woodville Road has few trees in this area and has to be one of the ugliest roads in Sydney.
The development is for a petrol station and a fast food outlet. Woodville road has an oversupply of both, including two vacant petrol stations. If this venture is unsuccessful, then these trees will have been removed for no good reason.
The DA has an extensive landscape plan, however it will take a number of years before the proposed trees reach maturity. Will this mean that if this venture fails, another DA will come along that includes removal of vegetation?
Benefits of Urban Street Trees
I'm sure I don't need to elaborate on the Environmental, Aesthetic, Economic, and Socio-cultural benefits of urban street trees as Council has a very thorough and impressive plan regarding this.
The following is a link suggested by an online group dedicated to preserving biodiversity and the natural landscape in our area.
http://www.infolink.com.au/c/Standards-Australia-301388/First-Australian-Standard-for-the-protection-of-trees-on-development-sites-introduced-n869052
ps you like the hyperbole of the last sentence!!
Then I reported the removal of this tree to them as well. As you can see, there's not too many of this size and I went on google streetview and the tree is there. This bastard removed it so he could park his trucks there. I hope he cops a big fine.
Way to go, Margaret. I think that gets the message across. Hopefully, there'll be lots of other objections along similar lines.
The councillor wrote back that he completely agrees and will look into it, so I might ring him and get some tips.
Today I found out that a large area of trees will be knocked down at school. Someone said: well it's the western suburbs, you can get away with anything out here and noone cares.
They have found a loophole - these trees are larger and more impressive than the above ones and people have already tried to argue. I put it on the exec mtg agenda tomorrow but i think it's too late. I will photograph them and put them up.
I have lived out here just over 3 years and am disgusted at the ugliness and complete disregard for the environment. Where I live and where i work have poor ethnic communities and people either don't care, don't know and don't object or don't notice the surroundings. It's only since I live here that I have noticed the ugly fast food joints on every corner, people prefer to have front yards cemented and no plants at all!
I wonder if what we value about our environment is a result of what we grew up with. In my case I spent a lot of time in local bushland and maybe that influenced my outlook.
These tawny frog mouths live at school
This is their tree, I can't get an answer about if it will go. Boss says they're not there anymore. I don't know how she would know though.
Today I rang the Environmental Defenders Office http://www.edo.org.au/ and the Tree Preservation Officer at the local council. Both are going to get back to me. My boss is not happy because I'm a johnny-come-lately, others have been trying to alter the course of events for 2 years however I didn't know about the following trees until yesterday.
Other side
Good on you for making those calls, Margaret. You are staring down apathy, a difficult thing for you to do from what I gather. However, your boss seems to be very happy with the status quo. A very dangerous person to have around by the sound of him/her. Earth can ill afford to have anyone of her/his ilk in charge of anything. What does he/she think of trees, especially Australian trees & even more especially trees indigenous to her/his area?
The picture you've painted of the area in which you live is grim, to say the least. It shows just how little thought is given to the lives of people in such environments. And the status quo in a community is a very difficult thing to change, given people's values & supressed motivation. Presenting alternative models is one way of gradually encouraging change. E.g., your backyard is like a diamond in the rough. It'll be interesting to see if what you've done has an effect on other backyards. I wonder if there are any community development initiatives through council or some other body?
I agree that we learn a lot from our environment. What we learn from it determines our values later in life but it is possible to change. E.g., my father always wanted to buy a block of scrub in WA, knock it down & grow wheat on the land. My values are quite different from this because I had other influences on me later in life. (I daresay his values would have been diffferent too had he known about soil salinity & biodiversity.)
From your photos the school seems to be well endowed with trees. Who is planning to knock down them down? Is it the Education Department? If so, how does this fit with its carbon abatement policy (if there is one.) What is the rationale for removing the trees? What will be the environmental model presented to the students by this proposed action? And what social model will be presented, given that areas such as you describe often have high vandalism rates? What would teachers at the school think of this method of teaching students environmental values? How does shade deprivation fit with the school's policy on skin cancer prevention? What do the teachers think about the lack of shade for their cars? The contradictions in removing the trees seem to be mind-boggling & worthy of high-level bureaucratic indifference & insensitivity.
But forgive me. I might be jumping the gun. There might be good reasons for the proposed removal. It's just that I can't see them for the trees.
Hi again, Margaret. I was discussing with Ms Woko the issues you're dealing with & she suggested that one way of drawing attention to the authorities' approach to native vegetation in your area is to start a blog about it. It might be wise to use this strategy as a last resort as it's a bit early perhaps to be putting out of joint via a blog the noses of those you're trying to persuade to your way of thinking.
Legal Advise from EDO:
Clause 10 of the Fairfield LEP<http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/maintop/view/inforce/epi+382+1994+cd+0+N> permits council to make a Tree Preservation Order, and refers to the effect of a Tree Preservation Order in the council’s area.
I have attached the Fairfield Tree Preservation Order itself. This is Appendix D to the Fairfield City Wide Development Control Plan (DCP) and is available from http://www.fairfieldcity.nsw.gov.au under Development > Planning controls. Sections 1.2, 3.3 and 4 may be of interest, particularly 4 with regard to types of protections that could be taken while construction work occurs.
Our factsheet on Development applications and consents is here: http://www.edo.org.au/edonsw/site/factsh/fs02_2_4.php. As mentioned it includes a significant note regarding the Nation Building and Jobs Plan Act:
New Infrastructure Laws for NSW
In March 2009, the Nation Building and Jobs Plan (State Infrastructure Delivery) Act 2009 passed through NSW parliament. The implications of this Act are very significant. The Act applies to infrastructure projects identified as critical through the COAG (Council of Australian Governments) funding process.
Part 5 of the Act allows the new Coordinator General to make an order by writing that the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act (EPA Act) does NOT apply to such projects. Additionally, the Act cannot be prohibited by a Local Environment Plan, it cannot be assessed under Part 5 of the EPA Act and it cannot be declared as a Part 3A project. Alternatively, authorisation is sought from the Coordinator-General who may, upon approval of the project, attach conditions (including environmental protection). He/she may specify public notification requirements once authorisation is given.
There is no scope for public submissions or public participation prior to an authorisation being granted and there are no appeal rights to authorisation.
Click here to view the full National Building and Jobs Plan (State Infrastructure Delivery) Act<http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/sessionalview/sessional/TITLE/Nation%2...(State%20Infrastructure%20Delivery)%20Act%202009%20No%201.pdf>
Woko I forgot to mention that the trees are being felled for new buildings and my boss has tried to save as many trees as possible however she is in charge of a very big building project that is at least half way through. Unfortunately the buildings are part of the stimulus national building program which waived all protection. I have also been warned it will not be in my interests to pursue this. Not sure I can do much more except look at the plans and see if one or 2 can be saved.
The Tree Preservation Officer also told me that usually schools just submit DAs as a courtesy and approval is a fait accompli.
ps I just thought i would keep posting so that other people may find some answers for similar situations
Hi Margaret. No doubt your extensive research has enlightened you further to the vagaries of the World of Bureaucracy. My head was spinning after reading about the Acts & regulations, the Coordinator General & the National Building & Jobs Plan etc., etc., etc. & I think I could be forgiven for thinking that governments deliberately make bureaucracy as formidable as possible in order to discourage people from trying to protect Nature. This might be where running a blog on the whole sorry mess comes in although it's interesting that you've been warned that it wouldn't be in your interests to pursue the matter. If you were to run a blog that warning could be part of it but it seems that you've made an assessment that, realistically, it might be worth trying to save one or two trees at the school. That's the reality of it so it's important to be able to live with that so that you can fight other battles rather than beating your head fruitlessly against a brick wall. However, since your boss knows of your interest in the matter does this give you any leverage over what vegetation might be planted around the new buildings?
I'm not at all surprised that development applications are fait accomplis. That fits nicely with the destructive madness in our society today.
Hey, Margaret. Windhover has just posted on the Best Photos forum a link to the Western Sydeny Conservation Alliance www.wsca.org.au. There you'll find information about A Gardener's Guide to the Native Plants of Western Sydney. I wonder if you council is aware of this book.
Thanks Woko, i might join that group but it all looks very depressing - just had a quick look at the website.
Gave up on making a fuss at school, just really got my boss pissed off! i think she did try her best. But the tree that had/has the tawny frogmouths is going because it might drop branches... nothing beats OHS or whatever the latest name is.
As the Romans used to say, Margaret: "Sic biscitus disintegrat." (That's the way the cookie crumbles). In spite of our best efforts we won't save everything or even much in the current climate. It's important not to be paralysed by the stupidity of others so that we can live to fight another day. At least there's information/knowledge there about plants that grow naturally in the west Sydney area. And never forget: knowledge is power.
By the way, I find it interesting near where I live that there are a number of houses, schools & kindergartens built next to & even under river red gums Eucalyptus camaldulensis. People then complain about falling branches. This seem to equate somewhat with the situation at your school. Strange things, human beings.
Yes falling branches, falling leaves, fire risk, obsruction of signage, impedence to development, poor health, blocking of sewers, etc. There seems to be hundreds of excuses available for cutting down trees but whenever a case is made to retain a tree it has to be supported by hard facts and detailed investigation. I'd have thought by now that all councils would realise that the more trees they have, the more valuable and sought after is the land, and so the higher the rate revenue. When will they ever learn.
That's an interesting persepective, Night Parrot. I'll tuck that one away in my hump for future use if you don't mind.
For anyone to learn 3 things are required: Motivation, capacity & opportunity. Most council authorities possess opportunity.
yes the thing is Night Parrot that Fairfield Council has an environmental target for an increase of the percentage of tree canopy. And targets are all the rage these days, gotta set and reach targets !
anyway providing a safe workplace according to OHS trumps any other considerations or legislation.
Hello Woko,
Just read through the conversation - you weren't a local government bureaucrat in an earlier life, were you?
Given the logical advice to get things happening at local government level, if you weren't involved before, may l suggest that you would be one hellavu Councillor to pitt bureaucrats witts against.
Don't give up Margaret. A snappy Fox Terrier stays in the memory more than a one time Bulldog attack.
Well I just have to add, after having read through this .... congratulations to Woko, Mrs Woko ( for her input) and Margaret for your efforts! I agree with Mctk ...... you would be a hell of a lobbyist Woko. I share your worries Margaret and a few years ago I worked for a local developer who buys up "unwanted" and seemingly useless pieces of land ...usually ex wetland areas or used by wetland species . he then sits quietly on that piece of land as they do, for maybe up to ten years while they start the DA process. They are experienced in wearing down the process and playing to the minimum requirements for planting etc. In his case he either builds retirement villages or shopping centres or taverns etc. My parents live in a half finished village and at least they get a good coverage of shrubby stuff that I think is native in the most part , but that doesnt help the rainbow bee eaters, finches, black cockatoos, and pardalottes that have seen on the still undeveloped part of the property. The Masked lapwings are still wondering why their lands are decreasing! The herons that nest in local tall eucalypts will have less and less room to wade and poke around in too. it is very close to a national park so i guess people will just say .....well the birds can move there. Greed drives everything these days and I am so tired of it . Keep up the good fight Woko and Margaret and thanks for a very interesting read to follow .
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Birdie's comments about greedy developers (those two words naturally go together) wearing down environmental controls over time are revealing but not surprising. It goes to show that those who have responsibility for protecting our heritage, and the larger community, must be very steadfast and resolute. Developers have no taste, conscience or high ideals and are solely concerned with their own wealth and selfish aims. They lay waste to everything they touch. Their end product is usually a unitised collection of crammed-in, stark and sterile houses grudgingly sited amidst manicured lawns where a rose bush is given the same value as the fifty year old gum that it probably replaced. Developers are a scourge and should be opposed at every opportunity.
Developers may be a scourge but they will not be oppsed too strongly now in Queesnland I bet!
Greed seems to control the world and in the end the richest people in the world can be Kings and Queens of the rubbish heap they have created
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Such a misnomer the word 'developer'. I mean what exactly does it develop? the wallets of the developer? the whole notion of progress and development is a myth that we have deeply buried in our culture. That's why we see aboriginal peoples as primitive and the west as progressive, we see other cultures that lack our 'development' as the other that are primitive and behind. Yet they are the people who didn't destroy their environment and the first world is the culture that is destroying our planet. Of course I don't mean to suggest that everything we produce is bad, just that idea that somehow we are a superior culture to other 'primitive' ones.
btw slightly off topic but if you guys are in other states, you may be unaware that our state government NSW has handed shooters the right to shoot in our national parks. This has something to do with some deal to pass other legislation, they owed the Shooters party a favour.
No, I was never a local government bureaucrat, mtck, but I did work in a state government bureaucracy with a capital B. One thing (among many others) I learned in lobbying bureaucrats is to try to enable them to see that their power will be enhanced if they adopt a certain course of action because, fundamentally, that's what it's all about for them: the acquisition & maintenance of power. Never suggest anything that will make them feel threatened. Job security & the power that goes with it are paramount. It's therefore important to make them feel that they thought of your idea first. If they can convince others that they thought of it first then their power will be enhanced. This means I had to tuck my own ego away & concentrate on what I thought needed to be achieved. No doubt other posters will have their own learnings from dealing with bureaucrats local, state & federal.
Margaret, I think your questioning of the meaning of the word "development" is very worthwhile. Often we use words to which we've been desensitized or even conned into using but which support the cause of those who do environmentally destructive things. E.g., "bush clearance" is often used by "developers" to describe what is really vandalism. Personally, I believe we need to be accurate, from a conservationist point of view, in our use of language. What alternative word would you suggest for "development"? Also by the way, there's a discussion about shooting in NSW national parks in the General forum, I think it is.
Birdie, your experience of working for a "developer" has given you first hand insight into what goes on. It would be great if you could use that in some way to educate people. E.g., by using it to illustrate your point in any letters to the editor.
It's apparent that the level of concern about development is very high among many posters. Can this be harnessed (if it hasn't already been harnessed) in some way for the benefit of the environment?
The Loaded Dog: the power of planningJune 27, 2012 - 5:17PM
Careful what you wish for ... the new planning rules could remove your right to block a development.
With a nod to Henry Lawson's popular tale of the same name, The Sun-Herald's weekly column, The Loaded Dog, is a forum for readers to debate an "explosive" subject each week.
Our topic this week: Planning laws
The O'Farrell government will release new planning laws that could stop a complaint from individual residents changing or blocking new developments.
Advertisement: Story continues belowHave residents had too much power to stop developments in their local areas, preventing the construction of new and affordable housing in Sydney? Or do the government's changes put too much power in the hands of developers?
Please send your comment to loadeddog@sunherald.com.au and include your full name, email address, telephone number and the suburb where you live.
The best will be published in the Extra section of the new Sun-Herald on Sunday.
Rick Feneley, Editor
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/the-loaded-dog-the-power-of-planning-20120627-211ox.html#ixzz1yzi68qMD
I note that after "...too much power to stop developments..." the item didn't mention "thereby preserving wildlife habitat & biodiversity" but preferred to go with the conventional "...preventing the construction of new and affordable housing..." There's still a long way to go, even for the Loaded Dog, I guess.
well in both cases that i mentioned the trees are gone. The place on woodville road is cleared and work underway. I will be watching to see if they do the landscaping that's in their plan. Yesterday I went back to school after the holidays and about 30 trees have been removed, it's worse than i thought. I will photograph and put it here.
It just looks like total vandalism - it includes the trees that I and the students planted. Every tree in the above pictures has gone and more. It is so distressing. My office had a outlook onto trees and now they have all gone leaving the glare and heat to come straight in. There was a beautiful old iron bark outside my window that is gone for no apparent reason.
I get upset every time i look out there. Other people don't really care and I don't get why they are so complacent and apathetic. :(
Ah, Margaret. How utterly distressing. It seems the tree haters that surround you wanted a clear view of their picturesque asphalt, no doubt their pride & joy. Sending your photographs to the local media might be one way of warming their cold, stark lives.
"they took away the trees ...put 'em in a tree museum ..... and charged the people a dollar and a half just to see 'em .......
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot"
ring any bells with the older members???? Joni Mitchell was singing about it 30 - 40 years ago and it seems not a lot has changed with the human mentality.
So sorry for your distress Margaret ... I really feel for you
Adrienne
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Yes, distressing Margaret. All you can do is voice as much dissent as you can. By all means watch to see if the landscaping is done, but you can bet it will be token and in no way replacing the environment that has been destroyed.
Make that 42 years ago!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Yellow_Taxi
- soakes
soakes
Olinda, Victoria, Australia
Yes, very distressing, as Night Parrot says.What must hurt even more, is the ignorance of the people around you . That gets me every time, not only in regards to the environment, but also so many other issues. It's almost as if people can't be bothered to think anymore, instead they fall for slogans idiot radio presenters , (and politicians) put out there.
Sometimes people do a lot of damage to the environment without intention. I just noticed that a truck load of soil, one of my neighbours had delivered some time ago, is now overgrown with millions of "forget-me-not". It won't take long and they will spread into the bush behind us.When we lived not far from here, it took me two years of pulling them out by hand, I can see it happen all over again.
M-L
I would get the sack if I went to the media Woko! And yes i have voiced a lot of dissent which just got the boss very offside. I have hassled her PA about the landscaper and tree expert as well, saying I want to meet them. They claim that the landscaping is all indigenous but there are trees already planted that aren't even native!. This is quite a big project so some buildings and landscaping are complete.
Apart from that a tree at the front gate has been killed by some tradie putting in an electric gate. There is a row of cocos palms that iwould like to see gone but are still there, i hate those trees! they really despoil the australian landscape.
That's really annoying Araminta, here's hoping. I think I've finally demolished my neighbours privet and camphor laurel but i see another camphor laurel springing up a few doors down but thankfully I also see the huge eucalypt nearby has a baby.
btw the tree removal i reported may not have been prosecuted. I am unable to get an answer from the council but does anyone know? I've heard that they have to publish it if they prosecute. I am going to investigate this :)and hassle the council if they have done nothing. I've heard it is a $30,000 fine for such a tree.
Hi Margaret. Have you thought of going anonymously to the media? The media may not be aware of this environmental desecration & your name needn't be mentioned should you plonk through their letter box some photos with an attached unsigned note.
What do local people think about the tree vandalism?
Araminta, is your neighbour aware of the damage to the environment that the weeds in this soil heap will do to the environment? If so, perhaps a joint weed control expedition might be the go. Or is this the neighbour who doesn't give a rat's flea collar about caring for the environment while enjoying all its benefits? There are lots of those in the Mt Lofty Ranges.
Yes Woko, that's the one.
M-L
Thanks Soakes .... I almost got it right ... it was my era anyway
Sunshine Coast Queensland