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Blogs by Vena McGrath
Trees 6/10/2008 7:56:37 PM
Why are home owners discriminated against when it comes to the question of removing trees that cause problems? Trees are often on my mind. This is because there are 3 large gum trees that invade my home plot. When my son and I were searching for a block of land to build our new home on 18 years ago, we found it difficult to find a suitable block in the area we chose to move to. This was due to Council regulations regarding the positioning of new homes on the blocks and the fact that our home would be built down the block not across it. The area was naked; just land that had been bulldozed with all the grass gone. A dust heap.
We chose what we thought was an ideal block in a cul-de-sac and our builders went ahead and drew up plans for the Council's approval. We didn't get it because the house didn't sit on the block how they wanted it to. So the search was on for an alternative block which we found in another cul-de-sac two streets away. This time the plans were approved.
We must have seen the gum trees because the surrounding blocks were devoid of trees except for the one we had decided on and the one next door. Maybe it was a case of not seeing the forest for the trees? There were no fences so it wasn't easy to figure out where the boundaries were and I guess we didn't concern ourselves with it in our excitement. Once our home was being built we could see that the gum tree on our property was in the back corner, away from the house. Again, no real issues for anyone as the neighbouring properties' houses were well away from that tree.
When the house was completed and the next door neighbour's house was completed and we all moved in, we agreed on the type of fence, the company to do the work and the costs. When the fence went up we realised that the 2 trees on the neighbouring property were right up close to the fence line.
Again no dramas, no thoughts of what may happen. We weren't in drought then and the trees would lose leaves in winter but the rest of the year would be okay. That wasn't how it worked out though. We did go into many years of drought and the trees never seem to stop dropping leaves. I have been told that they do this so that the leaves will act as compost and keep the soil damper around the base of the trees. The problem was and is that the trees drop most of their leaves onto our roof, into our gutters, and into our inground pool. We didn't think about the fact that the winds would mostly come from the south and south/west which meant that the 3 trees would mess up our yard with little to bother the neighbours. We soon learned all about it!
The 2 trees next door now appear to have most of their foliage across into our yard. Does my neighbour do the right thing and get permission to lop them? No. If I want to pursue the possibility of having them lopped I have to apply to the Council and pay a fee for them to come out and assess the situation. The fact that the branches are hanging over my yard and the side of my house are no valid reasons, so the Council told me, to have them lopped. The cost of having any branches removed in Sydney are astronomical and must be done with the appropriate paperwork signed by Council. If you don't do this then you end up in court being fined thousands of dollars.
Do the Council care that the trees cause us distress or that someone has to clean the roof off every couple of weeks and clear out the gutters and downpipes? No. Does my neighbour even consider our plight? No. I've been told that he thinks it is highly amusing that hardly any of the leaves fall in his yard, and none on his roof as his house is built across the yard and the trees are nowhere near the roof.
My anger rises, and if I was a dog so would the hairs up my back, when I see construction going on where trees are just knocked to the ground and the stumps dug out when new buildings are being constructed. It doesn't matter if it's a shopping centre, houses, industrial developments or carparks. If the trees are in the way, they go. And yet in a subdivision of building blocks for houses where most of the trees were removed so the houses could be built, home owners like my son and I are discriminated against by being forced to keep these useless trees on our properties.
We could replace the gum trees with other trees that wouldn't mess up our little bit of the earth but no, that's not an acceptable alternative. As always, it's not what you know but who you know and how much power you wield with your cheque book. I couldn't hazard a guess at how many gum trees have been destroyed in the area I live in over the past 18 years in the name of progress. And yet here we are with 3 trees that serve no purpose and just cause problems without just cause.
Anyone who lives around gum trees knows that they are dangerous. Branches die frequently and break off in high winds. I am forever afraid that this will happen with a large branch and that it could go through our roof. We are always picking up bits and pieces of branches after high winds and some are as thick as an arm. But as with most things, it doesn't matter that you buy a block of land, you really don't own it because there are so many rules and regulations and laws about what you can do with it and what you can't do with it.
People who live in areas of Sydney that are surrounded by bush are in a much worse position of course. They are not, in the main, allowed clear around their homes to any great degree to keep them safe from bush fires. And when the fires come and they lose their homes and everything that they treasure, others watch and say 'oh well, they shouldn't have built there'. The truth is that if the Councils approve land to be sold for building houses or anything else, the owners should have the right to make their area safe.
I've been hanging out washing today and looking at those monstrous trees and as always, that sense of foreboding enters my mind. I'm not talking about small trees here, I'm talking about trees that would be probably at least 3 storeys high, maybe more. Useless huge trunks that are over a storey high before there are even any branches or leaves.
I rest my case before I go looking for a chain saw or a rusty nail.
