Seed pod slipping hazard: Council street trees face the axe after being identified as ‘high-risk’
A NORWOOD, Payneham & St Peters Council audit of Queensland box trees found 691 near aged-care homes and retirement villages were “high-risk” due to the slipping hazards created by fallen seed pods.
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ALMOST 700 Queensland box trees which regularly drop seed pods and create slip hazards are a “high risk” for elderly pedestrians, the local council says.
A Norwood, Payneham & St Peters Council audit of the street trees found 691 near aged-care homes and retirement villages were in the high-risk category.
A further 692 trees near schools, bus stops and shopping centres were considered a “medium risk” of creating a slipping hazard.
The audit came after the council, in August, identified the risk posed by thousands of Queensland box trees across the district.
At the time, Cr Kevin Duke described their seed pods as like tipping ball bearing on footpaths.
T
he council now has seven options on the table, including the immediate removal all of the trees, a progressive removal, or the reintroduction of a footpath sweeping program phased out in 2013 to save about $300,000 a year.
Speaking at the council’s most-recent meeting, Cr Duke said the “tropical” trees posed a “real danger”, suggesting they should “all should be removed and sent back to Queensland”.
The council had received 111 complaints about fallen seed pods in the past five years.
A council spokesman said it was safe to assume the majority of complaints were associated with Queensland box street trees.
In the audit report, council staff said there was “no effective management strategy in place to deal with the risk issues associated with the dropping of seed pods”.
Cr Paul Wormald said the public needed to be protected from the “bloody awful seed pods” and a lack of regular footpath sweeping made “the need for action further pressing”.
“It’s a priority issue,” Cr Wormald said.
“It’s a significant one. We are well overdue to review that (street sweeping) decision (of 2013).
“The council was looking for significant savings, it was the most radical decision taken.”
With the council now in caretaker mode in the lead up to next month’s local government elections, a decision on how to manage the trees will be made by the new council next year.
