Council balances Forest Rd tree-removals with community need for upgrade of busy road.

22 March 2018

The start of work on a major upgrade of Forest Road, has prompted concerns about the removal of trees this week.

Orange City Council's Manager of Corporate and Community Relations Nick Redmond said arguments about saving trees simply don't cover the other issues the council must address :

"In any major project such as this, Orange City Council takes the environmental and community impact of a project very seriously, as it balances the community’s need for safe, efficient roads. The council was upfront with the community about the impact of the project, including the loss of trees, issuing a media release and publishing an online article.

"The Council also needs to ask whether the road needs upgrading? Does driver and pedestrian safety need to be improved? Do we need to improve parking at the city's busiest sporting precinct? Do we need to improve access to the existing hospital and the proposed private hospital? Simply arguing to save trees doesn't cover the other issues that Council must address.

"As the Forest Rd upgrade was designed, each of the trees in the path of the works was assessed. On the eastern side of the road, outside the Brabham boundary fence, there were a number of planted Eucalypts that were about 40 to 50 years old. It was found that these trees weren’t old enough to contain the hollows used by superb parrots for nesting. It was found that these trees would be badly impacted in future by the construction of a car park. Tree roots would be impacted and water flow would be affected.

"On the Brabham side of the fence there is a corridor of more than 170 trees, in places three trees deep, which provides a significant shade for people using the sports ground and potential habitat for birds.

"On the western side of the road the professional assessment found a number of trees were much older and were part of remnant vegetation. This assessment resulted in a number of trees being preserved in the original design.

"Because the road is being widened, a table drain has to be moved further to the west and a number of trees were in the way.

"The process of design also leaves room for adjustments as work begins. 38 was always the maximum number of trees to be removed.

"As work began this week, the contractor determined the exact location of a number of underground services alongside the drain, such as communications cables and sewer lines.

"Because this level of detailed information is now known, it’s been decided that an additional four remnant trees can be kept. The future of another four trees will be determined later in the project depending on how close they are to services.

"The loss of trees for a clear community benefit should be seen against the backdrop of Orange City Council’s good record in creating habitat for wildlife such as the superb parrot. Nearby at Gosling Creek, around 20 nesting hollows for superb parrots have been created in recent years.

"Alongside Bloomfield Rd, very old tree trunks with the sort of very deep hollows that superb parrot love, have been erected on site. At nearby Hinton Reserve and Black Sallee Reserve more than 70 nesting boxes have been installed to provide habitat for wildlife."