Leave them alone: Locals fight back as century-old trees face the axe
Dozens of trees – some more than 100 years old – face the chop under a Brisbane City Council plan for Sherwood Arboretum.
The council has announced plans to fell 35 – almost half of the avenue’s 72 – Kauri trees along Kauri Avenue; a boulevard that welcomes visitors from Jolimont Street northwards through the centre of the park.
It said replacing the trees with Weeping Paperbarks will “help preserve the look and feel of the avenue while creating a healthier, more resilient canopy for future generations to enjoy.”
But Tennyson Ward councillor Nicole Johnston slammed the plan, saying the trees are “iconic”.
“They are the defining characteristic of the Sherwood Arboretum,” Johnston said.
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“The 72 trees that were planted as part of the original Avenue are heritage listed. It was a deliberate planning decision to plant the trees to create an avenue.”
Johnston started a petition against the plan, which has been signed by almost 1000 people.
She said only two Kauri trees are dead and six are sick.
‘They didn’t want to just replace the dead trees with the Weeping Paperbark, but they wanted to remove all of the trees at the southern end to create a uniform look,” she said.
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“Aesthetics is not a good reason to cut down healthy, protected trees.”
Johnston said there was a genuine problem with the high water table at the southern end of the Arboretum, but more options should be explored.
“I’ve been aware there’s been a problem, but we’ve been waiting for funding to manage the water cable issues, which would help improve the health of the trees,” she said.
“My concern is council is taking the cheapest option, which is to cut the trees down and replace them with another native, but that’s not the best option for the community or for the Arboretum.”
In the council’s Sherwood Arboretum factsheet, it said major soil replacement and drainage works have been investigated as a solution but “would involve significant excavation and the risk of disturbing acid sulphate soils”.
It said: “even if the existing soil was replaced, there is a significant risk the acid sulphate would permeate the new soil over time. The scale of the works would also be highly disruptive to the Arboretum.”
Previous attempts to revive the trees have not been successful, according to the council, including continuing to plant Kauri pines, major soil replacement and drainage works, and planting trees on raised mounds to improve growing conditions.
Johnston’s petition currently has 972 digital signatures, plus more hand-written ones, which she said sent a “very clear message to the council”.
Sherwood Arboretum is a heritage-listed natural museum of native flora that has been tucked along the river in Sherwood and was officially recognised in 1925.
It is officially recognised as one of Brisbane’s three Botanic Gardens, along with the City and at Mt Coot-tha gardens.
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