Page 2183 - Week 06 - Thursday, 6 June 2019
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key factors is that we have two generations of trees reaching the end of their natural lives: the exotic trees that might be described as being of the Western era around the 1920s and 30s, and then a big swathe of the eucalypts that were planted in large numbers through the 60s and 70s. Both of these generations of trees—in what might be described as a perfect, or probably an imperfect, storm—are reaching the end of their lives. Over the next two decades we will see a significant dying of those trees because of those natural long-term factors.
This really puts this issue into clear focus. It will require a response both from government and from the private sector in its broader sense. I means we need to make sure government lifts its effort to plant more trees across the city to fill the gaps that are there, but it also means we need to work very hard to protect the trees that are there. That is where I think the private sector, in the broader sense of the term, plays a really important role.
We recognise that Canberra landscapes will change and that it is largely up to residents, landholders and related stakeholders to make decisions for their properties. But as Margaret, who contacted my office about this petition, has noted, the removal of large numbers of mature trees on strata properties impacts not only on the residents of a particular property but also on residents of adjoining strata complexes, as well as the local streetscape. These issues are going to require a lot more focus from government and from this Assembly. Minister Steel has flagged a review of the Tree Protection Act. I think that that needs to take these matters into account as well.
This is the second particular issue that has come to my attention in Kingston. Last year we had an issue in Gosse Street in Kingston, around the site of the Greek Orthodox church. On the property next door, a retirement village or an aged-care facility is going to be put in place. That has seen an application for the removal of somewhere between six and 12 large mature Eucalyptus mannifera—if I remember rightly. I would like to think that, as these sites are redeveloped, we can design our sites to take advantage of those trees. Those trees are quite magnificent. They are visually spectacular and also provide the sorts of cooling effects I talked about earlier.
The tree in Manuka has been another issue where we need people to think more thoughtfully about how we redevelop locations and actually make these trees part of the building, part of the redevelopment and part of the continuing landscape, not an inconvenience to be knocked over as quickly as possible, subversively in some cases, just to make it easier. People who are moving into these sites or coming to use the hotels that we build or whatever it is will value having these mature trees built into the new designs in these places.
I acknowledge the effort of the residents to bring this issue to the attention of the body corporate. I hope that a sensible way forward can be found. I am pleased to have the opportunity to flag these matters in the Assembly today, because they are ones we will continue to come back to and ones that things like the Tree Protection Act review need to take into account. We need to make sure we have better protections in place to ensure that, going forward, the mature trees in this city are valued more than they are being on some occasions by some parties at the moment.
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