Unauthorised removal of 14 trees in Mount Barker’s Moon Hill Reserve causes community backlash
Mount Barker Council is facing community backlash after removing a number of significant Tasmanian blue gums from Moon Hill Reserve without approval.
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Mount Barker Council has admitted it made a mistake razing 14 trees in a local park, causing a social media backlash.
The council removed the Tasmanian blue gums – some of which were significant trees – from Moon Hill Reserve, Mount Barker, last week amid concern they posed a threat to public safety.
However, a retrospective audit found some of the trees were deemed significant and regulated under state laws, requiring formal approval for their removal.
The council’s infrastructure general manger, Phil Burton, said there had been an “internal oversight” as the council urgently sought to remove the threat to public safety.
“An independent arborist will assess the site this week and we will now go through the process of a retrospective development application for this project,” Mr Burton said.
“This is a mistake that should not have happened. Unfortunately, we were focused at the time on prioritising the removal of a serious risk to public safety and we did not follow the correct process.
“We’ll now await the decision of the development application process and we’ll keep the community updated on the outcomes.
“We are also now reviewing (the) council’s tree removal approval processes to ensure this does not happen again.”
The removal of trees sparked a major social media backlash, with locals taking to Facebook community chat groups to voice their anger.
“They all want to move to the country-style, tree-lined areas, then they are the cause of all the trees disappearing. Thanks to them, Mount Barker will become another barren suburb,” one user wrote.
Another said: “Mount Barker can no longer be considered as quiet country living. It’s just inner-city suburbia in a hills location, fuelled by greedy developers and tree-changers. All the while lacking the infrastructure desperately needed to support the ever growing population. Mount Barker council should be hung.”
Mr Burton said the council was not taking the matter lightly and would engage the community on future plans for replacing the trees.
“We have already had early discussions with residents about what plants they would like to see added to the reserve and we are trying to incorporate that” he said.
The council has donated the razed trees to wildlife organisations, including Koala Rescue and Monarto Safari Park, for re-use.
It is not the first time the council has come under scrutiny over the removal of trees.
Sunday Mail gardening columnist Sophie Thomson was among a group of locals who condemned the council on social media at the time, claiming she was traumatised after watching the big trees fall.
In relation to the November incident, Mount Barker Mayor Ann Ferguson said sacrificing trees was a necessity to make room for new developments.
“We are passionate about our trees, people come to Mount Barker for the tree-change but people who come to Mount Barker also want recreational facilities … sometimes we have to do things that hurt us, too,” she said at the time.