Joy Charlton and Jasmyne Lloyd’s tree fall deaths spark council spray

Tennille Charlton has slammed Sunshine Coast Council, saying its ‘condolences’ mean nothing, after the death of her mother in a tree fall tragedy. Read why.

Little Mountain Woman Jasmyne Lloyd, 20, and Glasshouse Mountains woman Joy Charlton, 80, were killed in a tragic accident at the Glasshouse Mountains on New Year's Eve after a tree fell on their car.

The family of a woman killed by a fallen tree in the hinterland has slammed the Sunshine Coast Council for its condolences following the tragedy.

Little Mountain woman Jasmyne Lloyd, 20, and Glass House Mountains woman Joy Charlton, 80, were killed in the tragic incident on New Year’s Eve 2022 when a tree fell on their car in the Glass House Mountains.

At an audit committee meeting on January 23, 2023 where an internal tree risk management audit report was tabled, the Sunshine Coast Council chief executive Emma Thomas expressed condolences on behalf of council in relation to the deaths.

A council spokesman said the report pre-dated the incident at Glass House Mountains and was completed in November 2022.

“As such, the audit report was not written in response to that incident,” he said.

The scene on Old Gympie Road at Glasshouse Mountains where two people were killed after a tree fell on their car. Picture Lachie Millard

Ms Charlton’s daughter Tennille Charlton – who was left orphaned by the incident – said she had heard nothing from the council.

“We haven’t heard anything from the council, they’ve been dead silent,” she said.

“Why would you say condolences but not actually speak to me?

“That’s rubbish, it’s bulls**t, they don’t want to show any responsibility.”

Darryl, Tennille and Joy Charlton.

Legislation prevented the council from being able to release the report to the Sunshine Coast Daily, with the council instead advising an application would have to be made under Right to Information.

A council spokesman told the Sunshine Coast Daily the “report cannot be released administratively by a council officer or councillor, as it is considered to be confidential information”.

In the executive summary of the report tabled last month it said it had found “some opportunities to better demonstrate compliance with best practice principles”.

The council denied that it had received any complaints about the tree on Old Gympie Rd in the Glasshouse Mountains, despite some residents saying they had raised concerns.

Ms Charlton questioned whether or not council’s tree management was adequate.

“Any day it was going to fall and it was right next to the road, you couldn’t miss it, so that should have been cut down a long time ago,” she said,

“Even if it didn’t land on Mum and Dad’s car, that corner is a really fast corner and people come flying around there so if it had just fallen on the road someone would have ran into it at a high speed and died anyway.

“Who’s to say that’s not going to happen somewhere else?”

Ms Charlton said she was still trying to process the death of her mother.

“It’s just been such a shock, it still doesn’t feel real to me and I wake up in the morning expecting Mum to be here,” she said.

The audit committee voted unanimously to request an update on the analysis of arboreal services at the next meeting in May 2023.