Jacaranda tree in flower
Last week the Cumberland Courier reported that a Pymble solicitor who illegally removed a Jacaranda tree from his property was fined a total of $18,075 after being taken to court by Ku-ring-gai Council.  This action by Ku-ring-gai Council shows commitment to taking action to protect trees in an area renown for its significant green canopy & many large, tall trees.
The level of punishment ordered by the court will send a strong signal to those who are prepared to act against the community’s expectations that trees be protected. I expect the people of Ku-ring-gai Council LGA will be extremely reticent to chop down trees without council permission from now on. You can read the article by clicking on the following link –http://bit.ly/8FanNm
In the Dorset resort of Poole in the UK a row of mature Monterey pines, Cedars & Oaks protected by Tree Preservation Orders have been killed off by residents using hatchets, handsaws, drain cleaner & rock salt all for the sake of a sea view.  This news has traveled the internet like a virus which has surprised me.  They call it ‘tree-mugging.’  Council intends to deliver hefty fines (20,000 pounds) & possibly gaol time if they catch the perpetrators.  They must not have heard of the councils in Australia who erect large billboards saying “this billboard has been put here because of tree vandalism & will remain until the replacement tree has fully matured.”  I know that I would rather see a view through a leafy canopy than look at a billboard.
Down to the nearest growth point
The Cumberland Courier ran an article about another group of residents who complained about the street tree pruning by Energy Australia in Kens Road, Frenches Forest.  The residents say the energy company has left the street trees ugly & looking like telegraph poles. To read this article, click on the link just above this paragraph.
The council of the city of Milpitas USA took a creative approach to increasing their tree canopy.  Residents came home to find a letter speared into their front lawn with wire informing them that a tree was to be planted by the council in their front garden.  In one street, about 3/4s of the homes were targeted.  If residents didn’t want a tree planted, they were required to send a written appeal within 14 days.
Can you imagine the uproar if our Marrickville Council tried this?  Maybe a modified approach of offering free trees to residents to plant in their gardens would be successful.  It would have to be part of a concentrated campaign to green the LGA because council were offering a free plant from the Addison Road nursery late 09 to anyone who presented a coupon available in the free newspaper Marrickville Matters.  It would be interesting to know how many residents took up this offer.http://www.mercurynews.com/milpitas/ci_14181479
Peter Spenser of Shannon’s Flat NSW has come down from his tower & stopped his hunger strike after 52 days protesting the State Government’s refusal to allow him to clear his land of trees.  He wants a Royal Commission, compensation & “a Chardonnay.”
Richard Pennicuik who I have posted about on 10th December 09 & 5th January 10 is still sitting in the street tree outside his home in Perth suburb of Thornlie. The City of Gosnell Council must be pulling their hair out by now.  What to do?  Keep the healthy street trees in this street or continue to suffer the now world-wide bad publicity?
Old Palms in Marrickville. Unfortunately 11 palms on the opposite side of the street were chopped down in 2009 because of existing power lines - the residents were very upset & the street doesn't look nearly as good as it did before
Finally, a study in Landscape & Urban Planning by Geoffrey Donavan of the U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station found that if a house in East Portland had street trees & tree canopy close by, the house sold for US$8,870 more & it sold faster. He said his research had some public policy implications in that, “Calculating the increased property tax revenue to the city & comparing it to the expense the city bears maintaining street trees, the authors estimate street trees have a benefit to cost ratio of 2 to 1. In Portland, the benefits of street trees significantly outweigh their maintenance costs.”
I did a google search & found a house for sale in East Portland – 3 beds, 1 bath, 475 sq metre with multiple tall trees at US$234,000. Can you believe these prices!
This is part of a current world trend that recognizes that good street trees increase property values.  Interesting if you consider the impact of severe pruning by energy companies.
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