Perth council axes policy to protect its urban forest over safety concerns

The City of Kalamunda has scrapped a policy to protect its urban forest from destruction just a year after it was implemented.

A notice of motion was brought at Tuesday’s night’s council meeting by Cr David Modolo following reported instances of “perverse outcomes” since the tree retention policy was introduced.

Stirk Park in Kalamunda.Credit: Lynn Grierson

Modolo said the “half-baked law” had painted a picture of bureaucracy that lacked empathy and common sense.

“Make no mistake, the administration of our city is brandishing this policy as a weapon against its own people,” he said.

“We’ve got arborists, tree lifecycle experts determining that a tree is dangerous and yet those concerns are being ignored.

“Large trees are still standing right now that the very next day could hurt or kill someone.

“Are [councillors] prepared to accept the risk that by leaving this policy alive, we could have blood on our hands to the injury or death of a ratepayer?”

The policy was designed to prevent established trees that are four metres or higher from being cleared due to subdivision and development.

It is part of wider measures by the city aiming to boost its urban canopy cover to 30 per cent by 2043.

Cr Kathy Ritchie called on council to defer the request to revoke the tree retention policy pending a review and report.

Ritchie said rescinding the policy without a full council cycle was undefendable and opened the city up to reputational and financial damage.

She said a policy of this magnitude would inevitably have teething issues, but concerns were centred primarily around process, rather than on the intent of the policy.

“In 2023, all councillors supported the city in taking legal action against those who had grossly breached the policy and cleared significant tracts of land,” she said.

“This resulted in $90,000 in fines and a clear message sent to developers that irresponsible clearing of vegetation is unacceptable.”

Ritchie said if the policy was rescinded there would be a return to wholesale clearing of land for industrial, commercial and housing estates.

Since the tree retention policy was adopted in December 2022, 17 mature trees have been saved and 367 new trees planted. Of the 43 requests for tree removal, 32 were approved, six were under assessment, three were withdrawn and two were refused.

A city spokesperson said since the introduction of the policy it had experienced no issues with its implementation.

Resident Joshua Clark said the city had refused to allow him to remove a large marri tree, so he could erect a boundary fence so his two children and dog could play safely.

He said he was quoted an “outrageous” fee of $97,000 to remove the tree and replace it with verge trees.

“Mine is only one example of where the policy is inadequate and overreaching,” he said.

“The policy is contradictory, ambiguous and inadequate.

“It may have been well-intentioned, but it has had a far-reaching impact, particularly with regards to safety.”

However, former Kalamunda Environment and Sustainability Advisory committee chair Victoria Laurie said it was surreal to have to defend the policy given Kalamunda was among the hottest spots on the planet during February’s heatwaves.

“I am proud of this policy, which is only one year into operation but has already made a difference to the ‘scorched earth’ vegetation clearing of yesteryear,” she said.

“Thanks to the policy, the community has gained hundreds of trees planted to soften and cool industrial and commercial precincts, a $32,000 fund to pay for more tree installation, a very low rate of refusals of requests to remove trees and a tiny rate (only four) of prosecutions.”

Resident and former councillor Janelle Sewell said axing such a policy was unprecedented and out of step with the community’s expectations.

“The fact that a councillor, who has only been elected for four months, can put forward a motion, with only four days’ notice, with no public agenda briefing, no consultation, no strategy session, and undo eight years of work by upstanding members of our community, staff and former councillors is a travesty,” she said.

“This is a backward step ... dysfunctional council appears now to be in play. ”

The council voted six to three to scrap the policy.

Earlier this month, Planning Minister John Carey announced a metro-wide urban greening strategy for Perth and Peel to tackle skyrocketing temperatures throughout Perth’s barest suburbs.

Perth has the worst tree canopy cover of any Australian capital, with the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage putting it at 16 per cent coverage, while NearMap’s annual tree count found it was about 22 per cent.

Adelaide is the second-worst capital in the nation at 26 per cent coverage.

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