Moreton Bay Fig Tree Update
Very sad news.
Council voted last night to remove the tree I featured in last Sunday's post and men with chainsaws moved in this morning.
I heard it on the radio news, and have just now seen the tree on a TV news update.
Men with chainsaws slicing into the trunk, with all of the upper branches already gone.
I don't know anything about tree diseases, all I know is the tree looked fine to me. It looked exactly the same as the Moreton Bay figs on the other corners of that intersection.
I worry now about the fate of these other trees.
Council voted last night to remove the tree I featured in last Sunday's post and men with chainsaws moved in this morning.
I heard it on the radio news, and have just now seen the tree on a TV news update.
Men with chainsaws slicing into the trunk, with all of the upper branches already gone.
I don't know anything about tree diseases, all I know is the tree looked fine to me. It looked exactly the same as the Moreton Bay figs on the other corners of that intersection.
I worry now about the fate of these other trees.
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It certainly didn't take long for the chain saws to move in if Council only voted for the tree to be removed last night. Sounds as though it was already a fait accompli.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know Moreton Bay fig trees don't drop limbs but I could be wrong. I know there are certain Oz eucalypts that do i.e. lemon scented gums, but MB figs? Never heard of that happening.
Let's hope whoever it is is that hates trees doesn't get a chance to vote to remove the other 3 trees.
I fear for people with outdoor jobs in your weather right now. Don't they have a rule that work ceases over a certain temperature?
Sad and bad. I am so sorry. And suspect that Mimsie is right about the fait accompli. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI hope the others are safe.
Mimsie; there was mention the council were worried the tree would fall over. Really? It seemed perfectly steady to me. Perhaps the ground around it had been eroded too much? We'll never really know now.
ReplyDeleteElephant's Child; I'm pretty sure the fat of the tree was sealed as soon as the first branch was trimmed. So sad.
I'm so sorry! My mum recently lost a battle to save a beautiful flame tree on the footpath between her house and her neighbours. She had a little memorial service for the poor thing. We're tree people. The loss of a tree that is obviously healthy and doing no harm is a very sad thing. :-(
ReplyDeleteMimsie; I'm not sure about the temperature rule for outdoor workers, it would make sense for them to be staying or going home. I remember working for Clarks Shoes in the 90s, when the temperatures rose our supervisor would walk around dispensing ice creams or icy poles to everyone mid afternoon and we'd get a ten minute break to eat them.
ReplyDeleteWatching the news right now, late night heated discussion amongst council members, vote to remove was 7 to 3 and chainsaws began work at dawn. DAWN!! no chance at all for people to object. An unseemly hurry for sure, many people now are wondering why the rush, is there something we are not being told, what plans are in place for that space now? If something goes up in that space quickly we'll know.
ReplyDeleteCassandra; I can't be sure the tree was healthy, all I know is it didn't look diseased to me. I love trees and this one was so shady.
ReplyDeleteI am very sorry for the loss of the MB. They do offer so much deep shade.
ReplyDeleteI hope the others don't suffer the same fate.
I mean seriously, people are so daft, trees are what help us breathe, how do we get oxygen if there aren't any bloody trees or greenery???? I hope the others are safe.
ReplyDeleteIndecent haste.
ReplyDeleteNnnnoooooo!!!! :(
ReplyDeleteOh River, that's awful! The fact that they moved in at DAWN means they knew there would be a protest and they wanted to remove it asap. These people know how to "play the game". No doubt they will cite the extreme weather as the reason for the clandestine, midnight operation.
I remember there was a gracious old mansion on the Britannia corner, across the road from the pub. Some developer wanted to raze the building, but it was listed, so they couldn't. With the help of some bribeable council members, they got the listing lifted late one Friday afternoon just before a long weekend. First thing Saturday morning, before any protest or stay could be lodged, the bulldozers moved in and by the first business day, it was already rubble. They built a ghastly, box-like office building on the site.
Interestingly enough, in the 1971 "Elm War" in Stockholm, the council declared that the 14 elm trees were in bad health, dangerous, about to die etc. Forty three years later, they are still happily standing in Kungsträdgården, showing everyone what a bunch of lying bastards the council really are. Stupid, short sighted morons.
Makes me cringe to see a tree separated from life.
ReplyDeleteThey probably mutilated the poor tree past living the first time around, this was the coup de gras. Council should have been made to stand nearby. Trees scream when they die.
ReplyDeleteThey are beautiful trees and in this weather they provide welcome relief but I have never met a council that I liked and none of them have any sense .
ReplyDeleteWrite them a letter and ask them for a copy of the tree doctors report to find out what was wrong with the tree they should be able to produce something to say why the tree had to go.
I interested as to what they have to say and I'm sure you are too.
Merle....................
I sobbed when my ex-landlord killed a big apple tree next to old bedroom window to plant standard roses. Hate tree killers. Still teary thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteDevelopers poison trees, they also burn down historic buildings when their plans to demolish them are opposed.
ReplyDeleteGangsters.
Vicki; I'm concerned for the others too, but they are a little further back from their respective footpaths, so may be safe.
ReplyDeleteThe Wicked Writer; first the trees in the Mall, now this one. At least the Mall trees have been replaced. With tiny saplings, but they'll grow.
R.H. indecent, yes.
Marie; late night meetings and dawn destruction definitely speaks of something shady going on. I don't remember the Brittania area kerfuffle, but it sounds like a similar "fool the people" event. Glad the elms are still alive and the council did not get their way there.
Delores; me too. If I ever have a home of my own again, you can be sure I'll plant trees on the property.
Joanne; these trees are very tough, I'm sure it would have survived the lopping of branches if only that had been the end of it.
Merlesworld; asking for a copy of the tree doctors report seems like a good idea, but how do I know it would be genuine? They could send me a fake report and I wouldn't know the difference. I did notice something on the TV images that disturbed me, but I can't be sure it wasn't a normal tree thing. I'll be paying closer attention to the trunks and branches of the remaining trees to see if they do the same thing. I'm suspicious.
mm; I cried when my ex poisoned a beautiful big old lavender shrub a year after he moved in. Told me it died because of the heat radiating back from the fence. I screamed at him. That lavender had survived decades of heat and prunings and was growing strongly still. He planted a scrappy looking daisy in it's place.
R.H. poison is my suspicion in this case too. On the TV images as the tree came down there were streaks of white that ran down parts of the trunk and branches from little holes...looked a lot to me like small holes drilled and poison injected. There was talk the tree had begun "spitting". That doesn't seem normal to me.