Trees endangered in Ettalong

I had a sympathetic response to my letter on the endangered trees in Ettalong, and also some useful suggestions as to how I should proceed.

First I rang an arborist, and by happenstance, spoke to the same man who had surveyed the trees for Gosford Council.

He gave me the bad news, confirmed the next day by a town planner in the council, that it was out of council's hands.

The mad monarchs of Macquarie St have rezoned the whole of Ettalong for villas and townhouses and even if it wanted to, council cannot stop a development of five villas going ahead on that site.

The trees are too large and too close to the buildings to survive.

Further, because of the requirement that any site has to drain to the road, and not to the sides, a metre of fill would have to be placed where the trees are, effectively killing them.

Of course "appropriate trees and shrubs" would be planted at the front.

However, we all know that any trees that manage to raise their heads above the roofline will immediately be pollarded or worse still disembowelled by the electricity commission to allow clear access for their cables. Isn't it time cables went underground?

The implications for the area are sad.

In a few years, every large tree on a residential block will go as the house becomes uneconomic to maintain and the land is sold for re-development.

Comments from the experts are illuminating:

Town planner: "Some people expect council to retain every tree!"

Old growth trees, yes, we do!

Arborist: "Trees are a renewable resource!"

Not in my lifetime, they are not

On a final sad note, all these rezonings were made with such good intentions.

But we all know where the road paved with good intentions leads, don't we?

Nancy Marchant Ettalong Beach