‘Disgusting’: Local council takes drastic action over alleged tree poisoning
Furious residents in an exclusive Sydney street have lashed out after their water views were blocked by a shipping container - but not everyone is on their side.
National
Don't miss out on the headlines from National. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Seething residents in an affluent street have blasted their council’s decision to block their ocean views with a shipping container after a number of trees were deliberately poisoned.
Sydney’s Bayside Council released a statement last Friday notifying residents they were made aware of “significant tree vandalism” along the Brighton-Le-Sands foreshore.
“Council identified two trees that have been poisoned along the foreshore walkway, and one tree that has been chopped down within the sand dunes in The Grand Parade”, it read.
The council said it “moved quickly to install a shipping container in the location, and will be installing large signage to deter vandalism and ensure no one benefits from an improved bay view.”
A string of furious residents told news.com.au they had been quickly shut down by council after raising their concerns about the installation of the “eyesore” shipping container.
“We’ve been on the phone with council, saying we’ve spoken with our lawyer, we’ve threatened legal action but it just seems like they don’t care,” one homeowner said.
“They clearly don’t care what their beaches and parks look like. They’re more than happy to drop shipping containers all over the place so there isn’t much we can do.”
There is no suggestion that any of the residents on the street are to blame for the alleged tree poisoning, and council said the investigation was ongoing.
But that hasn’t stopped passers-by and other locals apportioning blame to those landholders directly in front of the now-poisoned trees.
“Over the weekend I was out watering my garden and we had people abusing us, saying ‘You’re disgusting, how could you do something like this’,” one homeowner said.
“Our family is not taking this lightly. It attracts unwanted attention, having people taking photos of us, our house, we’re certainly not comfortable.”
Another was alerted by her tenants to the new addition blocking their outlook out over Botany Bay.
“I bought this house five years ago, I’ve never had any issues like this but now my rent is going to be affected,” she told news.com.au.
“You know frankly I paid a lot of money for it and now I may have to reduce my rent because my tenants now look out over a shipping container.
“I’m just frustrated that something happens that has nothing to do with me, in fact the poisoned trees are a couple of houses down the road, but the shipping container is placed directly in front of my house.”
Other residents whose views were less affected by the container were more concerned with the actions of the alleged tree vandals.
“We’ve only just moved in but this is just terrible, I can’t believe someone would do something like that,” one said.
“It’s just disgusting, when we got the pamphlet from council saying that a tree had been poisoned I was just shocked that someone would do something like this” another said.
Online, people were far less sympathetic about the street’s ocean views being impacted.
“Don’t paint the shipping containers. Let the (alleged) culprits view an eyesore,” one person wrote.
“What is wrong with people that feel the need to (allegedly) poison trees for the sake of a view! Makes me both angry and sad,’ another wrote.
The beachfront street in Brighton-Le-Sands is one of the suburb’s more affluent areas with some of the impacted houses selling for more than $4 million only a few years ago.
Questions have been raised as to whether the value of properties who now have their views impeded will drop as a result of the council action.
“You’d imagine this will affect the value of our house,” one resident told news.com.au.
“And in terms of council rates there is no way I should be paying the same amount now that this has happened.”
When contacted for comment the Bayside Council said: “Council plans to remove the containers once the newly planted trees reach height maturity level with the container.”
“Bayside Council takes a strong stance against tree vandalism and is actively investigating the incident,” it said.
And while many living on the street are somewhat sympathetic of the council’s war on tree vandalism, some questioned whether it was the best way to go about it.
“It’s disgusting poisoning trees and I don’t condone it at all, but dropping shipping containers everywhere that are an absolute eyesoar isn’t exactly a great solution,” argued one.
This also isn’t the first instance of local government in the area taking drastic action against tree poisoning.
Two shipping containers remain standing from 2021 when several trees were hacked down by a chainsaw. The council took similar action back then to “ensure no one benefits from an improved bay view.”
“The two containers up the road, there was talk about them staying for about a year, it’s now been three years and they’re still there so who knows when they will get rid of them,” one resident said.
Given the containers placed in 2021 are yet to be removed, residents fear it could be three to four years before the council considers moving the latest shipping container.
Originally published as ‘Disgusting’: Local council takes drastic action over alleged tree poisoning
$800 rip-off: Households slugged by ‘smart meters’
Smart meters being rapidly rolled out in the push to slash carbon emissions could be “enabling a rip-off”. See what this means for you.
Australia’s top performing state revealed
Two mining powerhouses are officially Australia’s best performing state economies, with one topping the list for the second time since 2014.