Thornleigh: Council refuse removal of tree before it falls on homes
A Thornleigh couple has been left frustrated after a large tree came crashing through their roof just months after Hornsby Council knocked back their application to remove the sick tree.
A Thornleigh couple has been left frustrated after a large tree came crashing through their roof just months after Hornsby Council knocked back their application to remove the sick tree.
John and Sue Corish applied to have a smooth-barked apple tree removed from their front lawn on Dartford Rd in June after an arborist recommended it be cut down because of a parasitic fungus. That application was turned down by council.
Last Wednesday morning, following heavy rainfall, the 20m-tall tree came crashing down damaging their roof and the neighbour’s roof.
Mrs Corish was inside at the time and said it could have been even worse.
“If it had gone the other way it could have gone through the garage and bedroom,” she said.
“I was just getting out of bed. The power went off … and the cat screeched and bolted.”
She said she also heard “a loud crack” as the tree hit the roof.
Mr Corish said it was hard to take considering council had ignored the arborist’s report.
“We love our trees but when it is sick and a professional gives you a report, and says it needs to be removed, then council disregards the arborist report … I find that very frustrating.”
He said they asked the arborist to inspect the tree as there was large amounts of resin seeping from the tree. He added they had a few trees fall over in a storm in 2015 on their property and they wanted to avoid that happening again.
A Hornsby Council spokesman said they inspected the tree on June 27.
“The inspection was carried out by one of council’s most highly skilled tree management officers, who has more than 30 years of experience.
“His assessment found no signs of structural defects, cavities, bracket fungi or insect attack.”
The spokesman said there was no way of knowing it was sick.
“There were no fruiting bodies (such as mushrooms) in the turf area at the time of assessment, nor was there any other evidence of fungal rot.
“Now that the tree has fallen it is clear that there was fungal rot but there was no possible way this could have been revealed during assessment.”
He said the large amounts of kino coming from the tree was considered a healthy reaction to insect attack. Council also said an arborist report was not included in the application.
However, Mr Corish sent a confirmation email to the Advocate showing the report was clearly attached in the original application.
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Arborist Stephen Williams, from Hunter Horticultural Services, did the initial report on the tree and said he was shocked at council’s decision.
“I was totally surprised because I don’t make those decisions lightly and especially for a mature tree of that size.”
He explained the symptoms suggested it was infected by a parasitic root fungus.
“The bark splitting with kino exudation (there is no evidence of insect activity) indicates pathogenic activity. Some kino was flowing freely from the wounds,” his report read.
“The owner states that there has been numerous fruiting bodies in the lawn around the tree, confirming the presence of fungus in the soil.”
He concluded that the symptoms displayed were strong indicators that the fungus was having a damaging effect on the tree.
“These diseases cannot be treated and as such the tree is deemed to be an unacceptable risk to life and property and requires removal to permanently mitigate that risk,” the report read.
Hornsby Council carry out more than 4000 tree inspections every year.
The Corish couple thanked Hornsby SES and Ausgrid for their fantastic work clearing the tree and getting their power back on.
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