Council drops in with ad
12/Jan/2010
Comments:
THE City of Gosnells has gone so far as to publish a full-page advertisement defending its position on the Hume Road tree protest, in a bid to deflect criticism.
The City has been in the spotlight, engaged in a standoff with the Thornlie resident who has been living in a gum tree for the past month.
Richard Pennicuik moved into the tree as loppers contracted by the council proceeded to remove 20 other eucalyptus melliodora from Hume Road.
Two trees remain, one occupied by a rotating team of protesters, and the other by Mr Pennicuik.
The trees were earmarked for removal under a five-year plan to rid the city of dangerous trees.
A tree of the same species and age in Hume Road dropped a one-tonne limb onto the road in 2008, sparking the removal program.
In the ad, published in today’s Comment News, the City says the evidence shows the trees in Hume Road were all planted at the same time and were all reaching the age when limb drops might be expected.
It also says local residents would now be consulted over the decision to replace the gums with jacarandas, due to community concerns raised.
Mr Pennicuik has spent more than a month in the gum tree and even enlisted a public relations officer of sorts to push his cause last week.
He maintains the council has failed to prove that the tree outside his home is dangerous, and says if it was deemed to be a public threat then he would allow it to be cut down.
Comment News understands a council expert deemed 22 eucalypts in Hume Road to be dangerous because they were about the same age as the one that dropped the heavy limb.
Trees were not individually inspected.
The City has refused to talk to Mr Pennicuik or give him the expert’s report until he gets out of the tree.
However the City has promised to retain the tree until at least March so discussions can be held.
as posted here
