Two significant council trees (one in Clarence Park, one on Millswood) are coming down overnight and this morning.

I came into two pieces of communication from Council staff late yesterday informing me that two trees are set to come down.

The first of these was in Frederick Street Clarence Park, a victim it would seem from yesterday’s storms. The tree was leaning across the road held up by the power lines above.

After waiting for SA Power Networks to turn the power off the tree was brought down before it could do harm to person or property. Sad to see such a significant contributor to our community having to come down.

The other tree, in Arundel Avenue Millswood I was advised is also leaning and unsafe but not a victim of mother nature. This one was a victim of the adjacent rail works. This tree is coming down, probably as I write this blog post.

Residents adjacent were letter boxed last night by DPTI explaining the circumstances. From that letter we read    “Accidental excavation within the rail corridor has encroached within the Structural Root Zone of this tree and many medium to large diameter roots have been severed, compromising the integrity of the tree, making it unsafe. Removal of this tree is scheduled to take place on”.

Two independent arborists, one employed by the principal contractor York-Thiess Joint Venture and one subsequently commissioned by Council both concluded that “the tree poses a significant risk to public safety having a high potential for total failure.”

This is another chapter in the relationships between the locals in this area and DPTI during the rail revitalisation works and I dare say locals will not be amused. The letter goes to great lengths to justify what is happening but no mention of “Sorry” for the lack of effort to protect the tree, which was a condition of development approval.