Getting to the root of controversial felling
Opponents say council plans to replace trees with boring substitutes
THE looming replacement of 12 trees from the footpaths of Shields St has been slammed by activists who suspect it is part of a wider plot to change the city-centre into a boring, sterile environment.
Cairns Regional Council says the dozen mature barringtonia trees between must be replaced because their root systems are causing considerable damage to nearby infra- structure and private property.
They will be removed and replaced with mature smooth leaved quandongs over the coming fortnight, with works beginning on Tuesday.
Quandong trees have been already used extensively as part of the council’s Shields Street Heart upgrades.
Community Heritage Action, Register and Monitoring (CHARM) facilitator Geoff Holland said his and others’ formal submissions against the trees’ removal were ignored.
“I disagree with council’s view that the problem is significant and cannot be easily managed,” he said.
“They’ve been using this excuse for removing trees very often, including at Mann St where they did the cycleway.
“We support the cycleway but we inspected the site and the trees were some distance away and there weren’t surface roots there.”
Mr Holland believed the removal was part of a wide ranging plan to changed species to “generic street trees” the council deemed more easily manageable.
He said a fig tree near the Novotel Hotel on Lake St had been poisoned before its removal, and the replacements lacked the “tropical feel” Cairns had developed over decades.
CHARM has inspected the Shields St barringtonias several times over the past 18 months and rejected the council’s claims.
“We believe council can manage the trees perfectly well,” Mr Holland said.
“They can make more use of root barriers and come up with a range of other ways to manage them.
“Otherwise we are going to find we have only a very boring range of ‘street trees’.
“We’re losing them all through a process of attrition.”