Tree planting, maintenance and removal

A few weeks ago, I was told a story of a resident who had a tree planted on their yard without their consent. The government had told the resident that they would be planting a new gum tree on their nature strip. The homeowner objected to a gum tree but was open to an alternative tree. The government ignored this and planted a gum tree anyway.

Upon learning this, we inspected other parts of Florey and found that the same story had been repeated over the entire suburb. Some were never told they would be getting a new tree and would arrive home to be surprised by one or sometimes two trees. Many were bothered that they had not been consulted.

These residents are not anti-tree. They see the value trees bring in creating shade and pleasant aesthetics, but many were concerned that the tree of choice for the government was a gum tree. Gum trees are shed limbs without warning, they are prone to falling during storms and they have intrusive damaging roots.

And unfortunately for the residents, they are expected to maintain the tree even while it damages their property. Seeking compensation for the damage caused by the government’s tree has been made extremely difficult.

If the government is putting the onus on the resident to maintain their tree, the neighbourly thing to do would’ve been to work with the resident on finding an acceptable outcome for everyone.

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