Community uproar following a plan by Yass Valley Council and Essential Energy to remove three mature aged trees on Rossi Street seemingly coming into action this week, but Council have responded saying they believe there was adequate consultation.
There was criticism that nobody on the street had been notified by Council of the works with Councillor Adrian Cameron saying he was not notified despite living on the very street for eleven years.
Councillor Adrian Cameron says “I was given notice on Friday afternoon, Facebook posts saying that they were going to take the trees down. I actually sent an email to the Mayor and the new CEO, basically saying, can we have this delayed simply because there’s been no consultation and people don’t know what’s going on and can we delay it for a week rather than just go ahead and take the trees down without any consultation with Councillors. Councillors didn’t know anything about this, it’s operational. I thought we could have a discussion because there’s a lot of ramifications about this issue in the sense of how we relate to external agencies like Essential Energy and other agencies”.
“I sent this email off to the mayor and the CEO.”
Cameron Continues “The mayor responded fairly quickly saying that she was thinking about congratulating the staff on what a good job they had done in notifying people that this work was happening, and I was quite surprised with that, and quite taken aback by that. We knew that there had been no letterboxing, there’d been no agreement by residents that this should happen in the street. If they take out three trees, of this line of five trees, there’ll be one left, and they’ll be looking extremely bare. The look of Yass is very much about trees and old houses which is why this is an issue to me. This is a socalled heritage zone, but they’re going to take the trees down anyway.”
Council acknowledged the public concern regarding the removal of the trees. Council said, “While we wish to preserve our valuable street trees where-ever possible, independent arborist recommendations and public safety concerns have necessitated the removal of these trees.”
Council received tree management requests from a resident and Essential Energy. Essential Energy advised vised that the trees were incompatible with nearby infrastructure, as they were continually growing toward the poles, multiple services, and mains power supply. “
In response, Cameron continues “Council engaged an independent arborist to assess the condition of the London Plane trees. The assessment concluded that there was a high risk of the main branches splitting from the trunk, with a probable likelihood of failure. The arborist recommended removal at the earliest opportunity. They also advised that the trees be replaced with species more suitable for the location and its overhead powerline constraints.”
“A similar request was made to remove a White Cedar Ash tree due to similar concerns about its incompatibility with overhead powerlines. As the Cedar was beginning to develop the same structural issues as the London Plane trees, Council approved the request. The three trees were determined to pose a high public safety risk. With the independent arborist’s recommendation for immediate removal, Council was compelled to act and, with the help of Essential Energy, works were scheduled to proceed. Council received confirmation on Thursday, 15 May that Essential Energy contractors planned to commence removal works during the week beginning 20 May. In line with this, Council notified the community on Friday, 16 May through Facebook posts and letterbox drops”
“The trees will return. Council staff, together with Councillors, are developing a comprehensive replanting program. In the coming weeks, Council will consult directly with Rossi Street residents and the broader community regarding the program’s details to replace the trees with more appropri-ate species that will thrive and enhance the local street environment.”
Yass Council did make a Facebook post confirming the removal of the trees on May 17. The trees have not been removed at the time of writing.
-Jack Murray
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