Page 1032 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 20 April 1994
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The resident of this street in Macarthur sent me a copy of the note she had received, and I will table the note. It indicates what the procedure would be with tree planting. It says:
You are reminded:
This work is carried out in the nature strip which is "Unleased Territory Land" ie - public land.
Street tree planting is a requirement of the ACT Government's Department of Environment Land and Planning (DELP) and is approved by them and other relevant authorities.
Once planted, street trees become the property of the ACT Government and are protected by law.
Then it adds, on a slightly more tender note:
It would be appreciated if you would co-operate with the landscape contractor to achieve a successful completion of this work.
I seek leave to table that document.
Leave granted.
Mr Kaine: Who is that letter from?
MR HUMPHRIES: I do not know whether the resident wants me to mention her name. She was on television; I suppose she would not mind. This was Mrs Sandra Rushton of Starritt Place in Macarthur. Mr Kaine assures me faithfully that he has not put up any of the residents of his street to say this; it was their own view. I should say that many residents expressed that concern about the landscaping and treescaping of their street, and they have a right to express that point of view. They have a right to be concerned.
I imagine that, if I were moving into a street that was being newly developed and trees had not been planted and I had planned, say, a native garden and it was proposed to put an oak tree outside my house, I might feel a little unhappy about that. Conversely, if I had planted a cottage garden and there was a large gum, I might also feel concerned about that. I chose the house in my street in Weston because it had lots of oak trees in it and I like oak trees and that was compatible with my plan for my garden.
Mr Wood: You do not burn those leaves in winter, do you?
MR HUMPHRIES: Not at all. I carefully mulch them and use them responsibly on my garden, and I am sure that all of us in this place do such things. We need to make sure that we establish a regime which people can feel comfortable with and can live with, and I suspect that the present arrangements are insufficiently flexible. I have not said in my motion that the Government must adopt some rigid new policy that would be difficult to enforce, but I do believe that there is capacity at least to solicit the views of local residents and to obtain some kind of feedback from them.
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