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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-09-12 Daily Xml
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Gibson Electorate

S.E. ANDREWS (Gibson) (15:38): Since being elected as the member for Gibson, I have been proud to stand alongside my community in fighting for significant and regulated trees. There have been some significant events in the last 18 months where significant trees have been cut down to the devastation of the community, the environment and our habitat.

There was the one we fought gallantly against where Jarvis Toyota cut down a significant tree on Brighton Road. There were of course swathes of gums that were cut down on the old Le Cornu site in preparation for housing development, and now there are hundreds and hundreds of us watching with interest to see if the proposed ice arena at 262 Sturt Road is going to put in its development application a desire to cut down two regulated trees. We watch with interest.

Most recently, there has been a devastating event in our community, as 13 regulated trees were cut down in the middle of the night. This occurred at the old Dover Gardens Primary School site. This site has been empty for 10 years, and it has been green open space with gum trees littered across it and significant trees right in the centre of it. Ever since I have been elected—in fact, even during my campaign—people have asked me what is happening at the site. There has been deep interest in this site because of the open space it delivers, the fresh air that we get and the wildlife we get.

There are owls in those trees, and there are lorikeets, cockatoos, koalas. These are the kinds of open spaces we want to protect in Gibson, and I am fighting to do it. Unfortunately, we had a terrible event about a month ago, when on a Saturday night some people came onto the fenced off site in unmarked vans and with chainsaws cut down the 13 regulated trees in the middle of the site. We can only assume who might have done it. We are deeply interested to find out, and we are doing our best to uncover all the layers of company interests that are currently available to us.

I put out a survey to the community, I have been doorknocking in the community and they have been calling regardless because they care about open space and regulated trees. They were shocked to hear chainsaws on a Saturday night. People started walking the streets asking what was going on. I heard that one person saw a woman with a chainsaw in the middle of the site cutting down a tree with a baby strapped to her back. This is a dangerous activity. This is why we need to protect our gums and do everything we can to make sure sites are safe.

Events like these just strengthen my resolve to fight for better tree protection in our community. We know that according to Planet Ark's 2019 report, Living Cities: Trees in the Urban Environment, a tree with a diameter of 77 centimetres is able to remove 50 kilograms of carbon in the atmosphere per year. The impact of these 13 trees to our carbon footprint, to our local ecosystem and to the local community's environment, is significant.

I am also advised that many of these trees were planted by students at Dover Gardens Primary School, so another piece of history has gone from our community as well as the trees, the habitat, the clean air and the open space. If these trees were taken down without complying with the appropriate processes, as we can assume they were on a Saturday night, it is my understanding that the maximum penalty that can be claimed under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act is $120,000—the equivalent of just over $9,000 a tree. This does not replace what was lost.

This amount might be considered reasonable if it was for one landowner developing a site, yet the size of the allotment at 100 Folkestone Road, Dover Gardens, is sufficient for any developer to recoup their loss and make significant returns. I call on us all to turn our minds to the fact that we must increase the fees for these kinds of activities to prevent people from going down this path. This amount is clearly not substantial enough as any kind of deterrent for people trying to make a profit from removing significant and regulated trees.

I stand by my community to continue to fight for our significant and regulated trees and our urban tree canopy, and I look forward to talking again with the minister to progress this matter.

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