Hacked off by tree chop

By Justin Robertson
A PAKENHAM resident never thought maintaining council land could lead to such heartache until his hakeas were hacked by council workmen.
For nine years Paul Ryan and his wife Louise nurtured and maintained the strip of grass outside their Crosby Road property and the group of hakea trees they planted for privacy.
They say that in that time the council had not once come to mow or cut trees along their nature strip.
Then one morning as Louise left home to go to work she saw council workers butchering the hakea trees with chainsaws.
She spoke to the team and said she was told “there was nothing she could do about it – it’s council property”.
The trees were cut to the stump and after a closer inspection, Mr Ryan said, “they may as well take them away now – they’re useless.”
Ms Ryan was equally distraught.
“I was devastated,” she said.
“At the very least they could have shown some compassion.”
Mr Ryan said the problem was caused as a result of the February floods during which Crosby Road was transformed into a gushing river and the gravel on the road was washed away so that it was unclear where the edge of the road was.
He said in early April the council re-aligned the street making it wider so that the trees were now nearer the edge of the road.
By law, arborists must keep council vegetation one metre from a road and 4.5 metres in height to allow clear sight for vehicles.
Mr Ryan said a council representative inspected the trees after it was cut and deemed it a “good job”.
Cardinia council spokes-man Paul Dunlop said the council received a customer request for vegetation to be cut back along Crosby Road and Old Gembrook Road.
“We deemed the request as a high priority as the trees were cut as part of council’s Box Clearance Program,” he said.
“Every road in Cardinia Shire will be cut to this specification unless it is a tree of significance.
“If there is a tree of significance, council’s arborist will deem what action should be taken,” he said.