Hornsby Mayor Philip Ruddock calls for review of 10/50 tree laws

HE WAS woken by the sound of chainsaws ripping through a tree in Pennant Hills last week, sparking the battle for trees across the Hornsby Shire.

Portraits of Philip Ruddock (white shirt) and Cheltenham Beecroft Alliance representative Ross Walker in Ruddock Park Westleigh (AAP Image / Julian Andrews).

HE WAS woken by the sound of chainsaws ripping through a tree in Pennant Hills last week, sparking the battle for trees across the Hornsby Shire.

Mayor Philip Ruddock has issue yet another battle cry against the State Government’s 10/50 vegetation scheme, which enables residents the right to cut down trees that increase the fire risk of a home.

Generic aerial view of houses surrounded by bushland at Hornsby, one of areas that is a bushfire risk around Sydney.

Cr Ruddock said he was woken for the second day in a row by the sound of chainsaws and knew something must be done to “kerb the abuse of the vegetation scheme” as a way to remove trees across the shire.

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“A majority of Hornsby residents live in or near bushfire-prone land,” Cr Ruddock said.

“As a council we support community opportunities to reduce bushfire hazards which are legal and lawful.”

Cr Ruddock called for a review of the 10/50 vegetation clearing code by the government, as well as a review of the effect the code has had on the tree canopy in Hornsby.

Eloisa Tilbury (9) and Rita Vontimitta (8) pose for a photo in the trees at Asquith Park, Sydney, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. (AAP Image/Joel Carrett)

Greens councillor Emma Heyde said the vegetation scheme has caused havoc to residents.

“It is obviously not just the Bushland Shire that has been impacted by these laws, this is an issues for countless suburbs across the state,” she said.

Protect your Suburban Environment spokeswoman Jan Primrose said thousands of trees were being lost, as a result of this code.

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“The trees that needed to be removed have been removed already,” she said. “It is a sledgehammer policy that has been used to destroy the native environment for far too long.”