‘They’re an idiot’: Mayor lashes those behind Perth park tree carnage

In the dead of the night a saw-wielding figure lurks in Ocean Reef – but the only victims that need to worry are the wooded kind with the potential to block ocean views.

Over the past two years, 56 trees installed in four separate plantings at Tarolinta Park have been poisoned or cut by a brazen and unknown person or persons.

Stuart Trott called the vandals of 12 Callistemon viminalis (Weeping Bottlebrush) and 8 Melaleuca quinquenervia (Broad-Leaved Paperbark) selfish.Credit: Claire Ottaviano

Residents fed up with the repetitive vandalism came out last week to discover someone had chopped 19 of 20 newly planted bottlebrush and paperbark trees – some directly in front of a recently installed sign aimed at deterring would-be vandals.

It followed the vandalism of eight trees planted in May 2022 and vandalised a month later, 13 trees planted in July 2022 and vandalised in August 2022 and 16 trees planted in August 2023 and vandalised in November 2023.

Stuart Trott said the issue had been a persistent pain for the 10 years he had lived adjacent to the park, labelling the vandal “selfish” and “an idiot”.

“The majority of people around here are dog owners or they have children who would like shade in the park,” he said.

City of Joondalup Mayor Albert Jacob condemned the person responsible for cutting down new trees.Credit: Claire Ottaviano

“I think someone is doing it for pretty selfish reasons – probably someone who’s worried about their view.”

The City of Joondalup said each round of planting cost between $1500 and $2000.

Unauthorised pruning or removal of trees is an offence under local laws with fines of up to $5000.

Offenders may also be responsible for replacement and establishment costs.

“It’s a crime at the end of the day,” Trott said.

“It is taxpayer money getting wasted, and I think they should be prosecuted.

“Hopefully [the council] will persist and hopefully, whichever idiot who’s doing it will stop.”

Cameron Bell, who also lives adjacent to the park, expressed his disappointment and also speculated as to the motive of the alleged repeat offender.

“I’m assuming people who have a view, an ocean view, are thinking, I’m going to lose my ocean view,” he said.

“But at the end of the day, it’s not their park and when you buy here, you buy knowing there’s a park in front.”

City of Joondalup Mayor Albert Jacob said if whoever was cutting down the trees to improve their views, “they’re an idiot”.

“The trees that are already here are growing 10 to 20 meters, the trees they’re cutting down are paperbarks and bottle brushes which at most grow to five meters,” he said.

Jacob said criticism connecting loss of ocean views to decreasing house values were invalid – as leafy green spaces were known to increase suburb desirability and value.

He also said the city “unashamedly” had the most aggressive tree canopy target in WA.

“We are determined to plant [trees] ... the council is united on it,” he said.

“The only way you end up with a leafy city is if a local government at a point in time says we’re going to aggressively plant trees and keep them here for the next generation.”

City of Joondalup deputy mayor Adrian Hill said the city had not received any complaints from residents about the planting of the trees.

“People who vandalise trees are causing a loss of amenity and extra costs for our community by destroying community assets, which need to be replaced,” he said.

The city will assess the damaged trees, plant replacement trees, and write to nearby land owners asking for support to identify and catch the culprits and report offending to police.

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