Onkaparinga Council removes trees in Morphett Vale after residents complain
Angry residents and the intervention of the local MP have forced a southern suburbs council to remove newly planted trees, which it put in without the approval of homeowners.
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Angry residents have forced Onkaparinga Council to remove newly planted trees after they came home to find them planted in their frontyards without notice.
Residents were shocked to come home two weeks ago and discover the council had planted about 80 golden rain trees along Emmerson Drive in Morphett Vale.
Frontyards on Emmerson Drive are connected to the footpath without a verge in between.
According to resident Rob, who did not want his surname published, the council said it had placed flyers – giving residents the option to opt out – before they planted them.
However, Rob said he did not receive any advance notice from the council and instead came home to discover two new trees in his frontyard.
When he contacted the council he was told that he had been notified but his flyer may have blown away.
“Their view was ‘it’s our land we’ll do whatever we want’,” Rob said.
“I’m not anti-tree but we have the right to have a say.”
He knocked on the doors of 10 of his neighbours and learnt that only one of them had received the council’s letter.
“Their system of communication is not working, they put out a leaflet and if they don’t hear back they take it as a ‘yes’,” he said.
Furious with the council’s refusal to remove the trees, he and two other neighbours contacted Labor MP for Hurtle Vale Nat Cook who appealed to the council on their behalf.
Consequently, the council has now removed at least four trees.
Ms Cook said Onkaparinga needed to better communicate with its residents.
“It is a waste when trees are planted without permission and consequently must be removed,” Ms Cook said.
“Programs that enhance or grow the green spaces in our neighbourhoods are vital and
absolutely welcomed.
“However, their success is contingent on effective communication with residents which appears to not have occurred in this case.”
The trees were planted as part of Onkaparinga’s plan to plant 100,000 trees in its district by 2045.
Onkaparinga has been contacted for comment.