By Mikayla Van Loon
Yarra Ranges councillors have called on a precedent to approve the removal of a native pine on a urban street in Chirnside Park.
Residents of 8 Kingswood Drive complained about the pine needles dropping on the naturestrip and road causing a slipping hazard.
Despite council officers recommending the male Casuarina cunninghamiana should remain, Councillor Richard Higgins moved an alternative motion, noting other issues with similar trees on suburban streets.
“Chirnside Park is an urban area. It’s not the native bush. This is a native pine, I appreciate that and it’s the second pine we’ve had before the council where it’s a risk to the public,” he said.
“These trees were planted many, many years ago, when we probably didn’t do our due diligence about the type of trees going into people’s nature strips.”
Hearing from Byron Stewart, who read a letter on behalf of his son Leigh Stewart who resides at the property in question, he told of the 13 year battle of dealing with the mess the tree causes.
“When we first moved in, we tried to go about things in the right way and expressed our concerns for the tree in question with the council. In return, we were told the tree was in perfect health and was not being removed,” Byron said.
“Since then we have continuously and frequently had to clean up the nature strip. It causes nothing but trouble. There’s been a handful of people [who have slipped] in the debris over the years as we have no footpath and the elderly are forced to walk on the road.
“You are constantly having to pay money for the drain two doors down to be unblocked from the loss of the needles and whenever there is a slight bit of wind, limbs fall without warning and have caused damage to parked cars.”
As a landscaper by trade, Leigh said he approached council 10 years ago to replace the tree with something more suitable for the urban landscape.
“The tree is of little benefit to the environment in comparison to the risk it has on the neighbourhood. It should have been removed a long time ago.
“The disappointing thing is that our concerns were not taken seriously back then and these trees would be fully grown by now and an asset to the streets and we wouldn’t be having this conversation today.”
For Byron himself who slipped on the pine needles in January, he understands the dangers and still has ongoing medical treatments to repair the damage to his leg.
Cr Johanna Skelton asked what the process of requesting a street sweeping looked like with a council officer stating that a cleaning request can be lodged with the council’s front desk with a response usually being provided in 40 business days.
“All trees drop things. Are we saying that we are not accepting any risk? We’ve got our expert advice before us that says it’s a very low risk,” she said in opposition to the alternative motion.
“There is a small amount of debris but we can do reactive sweeps upon request.”
While unsure about the decision, Cr Andrew Fullagar said the idea of planting two trees to replace just one solidified the decision for him.
“It is indeed a beautiful tree and very healthy and I think it’d be missed aesthetically in the area but what tips the scales to me is that they intend to replant and albeit 20 years too late perhaps with two more trees,” he said.
Cr Tim Heenan seconded Cr Higgins in his motion and said although he is “passionate about the environment”, “this was planted in the wrong place”.
For Cr Higgins knowing the growth of this native pine in the future, he said the problem is only going to get worse.
“This tree has a foliage spread I’m told in the arborist report of seven metres and that nature strip is about two metres wide. That’s a lot of tree on the road and through the garden,” he said.
“This tree is only going to get bigger, the spread is going to get further and it’s going to create more problems. Our road sweeping program does not permit this debris to be swept up in a regular program. It happens about every 10 weeks I’m told, that’s not enough.
“This tree just doesn’t fit…There’s other trees of the exact same type that are creating the same problems. We’ve removed one before that was similar, that was a female with the nuts on the ground which caused another hazard.”
Although a split vote, the alternative motion to remove the tree and replace the pine with more suitable urban foliage was approved four votes to three.
