'Taking away my rights': Resident to fell giant tree before council rule change

Melville resident to cut down giant pine before council tree policy change A home owner in Perth’s south plans to cut down a 20-metre tall “beast” of a tree in order to beat the introduction of a local council policy to protect large trees, despite the dwindling tree canopy across the city. City of Melville resident Susan said she would fork out $10,000 to remove the Norfolk pine from her backyard while the council worked on a draft policy designed to retain trees on private property. Susan, who asked for her surname to be withheld, said she promised the former owners she would keep the tree when she bought the block nearly two decades ago, but has now changed her mind. “I understand the argument for, and I understand the argument against, but I cannot have a council take away my rights,” she told 102.5 ABC Perth. "Why are we building a massive new layer of red tape to police backyards?" Perth's low tree canopy Of all the Australian capital cities, Perth has the lowest tree canopy — shade that can lower temperatures by several degrees Celsius on days of extreme heat. The state government has set a target to increase Perth’s tree canopy cover from 16 to 30 per cent by 2040. The City of Melville's draft policy aims to protect medium and large trees where reasonable and practical. Approval would need to be obtained to remove or damage a tree taller than 8 metres, with a tree canopy of more than 6 metres in diameter or a trunk circumference of more than 1.5 metres. 'Robbed opportunity' Despite neighbours complaining about the tree's roots and leaves encroaching on their property over the years, Susan said she previously had no intention of removing the Norfolk pine. And although she was not planning to subdivide, she said she wanted to avoid potential complications if development opportunities arose for future owners. “If I moved out, I can tell you that it would pass to someone else, so my child, and I don't want to feel like I'm robbing her of a development opportunity,” Susan said. The draft policy is based on a model Tree Retention policy developed by the WA Local Government Association, which has so far been adopted by 11 local governments. Western Australian Tree Canopy Advocates community engagement lead Ester Cole said it was not a radical policy. “This is pretty standard now and the sky hasn't fallen in,” she said. She said the policy did not preclude development, but "gives a pause". “What the council will do when there's a subdivision application is they'll ask, ‘is there a way we can keep the mature trees we've got?’ “Now maybe in Susan's case that's not possible, but maybe in another case it is.” Infill targets vs canopy Local Planning Minister John Carey said Susan’s concerns typified the debate on trees as the state government looks to boost infill with an overhaul of residential design codes. “Everyone wants to ensure that we increase our tree canopy but at the same time, when local governments are bringing in local planning policies - which I'm not criticising - but I am saying they are complex and it can affect development ... and it can affect someone's choice about what they're doing on their property,” he said. “It's not black and white where the location of the tree can affect a residential development and it's not always easy while we want it [to be] for people to design around that.” The proposed changes to the residential design codes, which would allow about 50,000 extra residential properties to be built in Perth, are expected to be released for public comment later this year. The City of Melville has been contacted for comment.