Page 355 - Week 01 - Thursday, 16 February 2012
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allocating limited resources, for example, protecting ageing trees versus planting trees in a new suburb, and should be governed by an equity criteria, with particular consideration to who pays and who benefits.
There are three lower priority sub-recommendations that the government does not agree with. These include recommendation 4F, which relates to registering and removing the blanket coverage of trees in selected areas. This recommendation is not supported because the removal of the blanket coverage has the potential to put trees at risk of removal by development in the future.
The government does not agree with recommendation 4K, which would authorise a qualified person to enter privately leased land. It is the government’s view that this would present significant regulatory risks and liability issues and potentially high financial costs to the government.
The government does not agree with recommendation 6E, which refers to retaining dead trees on existing verges and in public parks that have habitat value. This is because dead trees can pose significant safety and liability issues and implementation costs are likely to greatly outweigh any anticipated benefits. Dead trees on verges can be a high safety risk, as well as adversely impacting on the amenity of Canberra’s streets. This has knock-on effects for tourism, recreation and property values. The government already retains certain habitat trees, which are trees that are dead but safe to keep in open space and park settings, to provide habitat for native birds and the like.
A high degree of consensus has been achieved across agencies in responding to the report’s recommendations. As lead agency, the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate will be responsible for coordinating the implementation of the report’s recommendations. Central to the process of implementation, including monitoring and reporting, will be the establishment of the proposed ACT tree curator and the proposed cross-agency tree network committee.
The commissioner’s report makes valuable recommendations on how to improve the management of Canberra’s urban trees. The commissioner took a holistic approach in making her recommendations, focusing on improved integration of activities and a consistent approach to tree maintenance and protection across the ACT.
A number of actions are already being undertaken to improve tree management and communication consistent with the commissioner’s recommendations, including the integration of the tree protection unit, which focuses on trees on leased land, with the tree management unit, which focuses on trees on unleased land. Work has also commenced to integrate and update existing policy and guideline documents into a tree protection and management policy. Communication and notification processes have been improved, especially relating to notification of adjoining residents about an impending tree removal and the posting of signage on trees that require removal.
TAMS is implementing a proactive tree maintenance program where at least 60 per cent of tree-related work, like pruning, will be programmed. This should mean there is early detection of tree maintenance needs and scheduling according to priority, for safety and amenity. The commissioner also made recommendations about tree
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