SHOALHAVEN TREE MANAGEMENT PLAN A RECIPE FOR CITY WIDE TREE SLAUGHTER

Thursday, 18 December 2003 10:00

A draft tree management policy adopted by Shoalhaven City Council this week is a thinly veiled plan for open slather tree felling the Total Environment Centre has warned.

TEC Urban Campaigner Mr Leigh Martin said "amendments to the plan adopted by Council this week make it little more than a blanket land clearing policy. It will allow city wide tree slaughter and create treeless urban wastelands".

Under the plan no consent will be required to remove any tree within 6 metres of a dwelling or 3 metres of an outbuilding on residential land or within 12 metres of a dwelling or 6 metres of an outbuilding or fence on rural land. In an extraordinary step a rule has also been introduced that will allow any tree on private land to be automatically removed where any part of a tree within the same land is above a line 45° from the vertical extension of the wall of any building on the land.

"There is no logical basis for the 45° rule or the other exemptions adopted by Council. No risk assessment will be required to determine whether at tree is safe and healthy or whether any real danger exists as long it fits these arbitrary rules. The effect of these measures will be to ensure that there are very few trees that cannot be automatically removed", Mr Martin said.

The plan also contains a provision that would extend the 45° rule to trees on neighbouring properties and public land.

"There is a major potential for the policy to create neighbourhood disputes and place pressure on public authorities to remove trees from reserves and other public land", Mr Martin said
Council will consider the policy again next week when a special meeting of Council debates a recision motion.

"Council's environmental credibility and the quality of Shoalhaven City's environment depend on this crazy and irresponsible policy being overturned", Mr Martin said.
 

For further information

Contact
:
Leigh Martin - Urban Campaigner
Phone
:
61 2 9299 5599
Email
:
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:
http://www.tec.org.au/