By Jane Salmon
Not only is the natural heritage of Ku-ring-gai to be affected by development proposals, it must also absorb the vandalism of State Rail along the same rail corridors.
State Rail has formed the habit of stripping the rail corridor of healthy vegetation, leaving only woody weeds like lantana, camphor laurel and privet.
Friends of Ku-ring-gai Environment (FOKE) spokesperson, Kathy Cowley has decried the fact that the area is left devastated rather than replanted with natives.
Now State Rail vandals have gone further.
Five tall Bunya Pines along Werona Avenue (near Forsyth Street) in Killara were straight and sturdy. They each represented 60 years of growth. They each scraped the sky at 40 metres tall.
The past tense is applied because yesterday, Tuesday 25/2/25, they were unceremoniously removed by a contingent of tree loppers from Plateau Trees with huge cranes. 200 metres of thick trunk were fed into a chipper. Sticky white sap is still oozing from large stumps. Vehicles were diverted to side streets all day.
Certainly, these huge trees faced overhead power lines on one side. Certainly, the occasional bunya nut fell near the road, to be savoured by cockatoos between cars.
These giant trees were also habitat for innumerable creatures such as whip birds and powerful owls. Bunya nuts themselves are a source of protein for First Australians and wild food afficionadoes who make flour from them.
Some long-term residents stood around crying as the felled trunks were ground into woodchips. Former Greens candidate Martin Cousins made inquiries of the workers and took photographs. Heidi Lincoln from the Bob Brown Foundation offered to witness the destruction. Slightly stunned looking recent migrants took photographs. One owner from Elva Avenue leaned on her neighbour for support. Independent Councillor Indu Balachandran confirmed that the Council had been notified. Davidson MLA Matt Cross kindly conveyed our concerns to the latest NSW Minister for Transport John Graham.
State Rail tree removal contractors would not permit collection of any seeds from the trees. Botanist Bob Makinson of Pymble says this is particularly disappointing as he has created a database of bunya pines to protect their genetic diversity.
State Rail claims that it notified 150 residents of plans to redirect traffic for tree removal in December. However, residents 30 metres from the site claim not to have received these letters.
Rail corridor forest rang with the calls of whip birds as recently as five years ago. Foliage screened train noise. Residents call upon John Graham to meet with FOKE and put an appropriate reforestation plan in place.
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This is a complete disgrace by NSW State Rail, chopping down natives and allowing weeds to grow in their place. The amount of lantana along rail lines is also a disgrace, but privet and camphor laurel?
National Park volunteers spend a lot of time trying to get rid of these exotic, non-native weeds. Seeds spreading from other public and private lands are of no help.
The tree-lopping industry, in toto, is by and large a governmentally endorsed massive mechanism with one sole purpose, to whit, environmental vandalism and destruction. Years ago I worked as a consulting arborist for one of the larger companies, doing health reports and advising on works needed.
While there is no argument that dangerous trees require amelioration or removal, there remains huge overkill, aided & abetted by bureaucrats working on behalf of roads, rail, energy suppliers etc. The principals of the company that I worked for started with nothing and over the years became multimillionaires many times over on the basis of successful tendering for large-scale removal projects…. it’s no exaggeration to suggest that over the course of decades that particular business would have cut down tens of thousands of trees… each individual tree being a living ecosystem supporting birds, bats, possums, reptiles and insects and living in harmony with its neighbours and its mycorrhizal fungal symbionts.
A tragedy, writ large.
Trees are a big problem. During their transpiration cycle they remove carbon from carbon dioxide (CO2) lurking in the air and store the carbon in situ, releasing more oxygen into the atmosphere in the process. During wildfires, that C combines with O2 (released earlier by the same trees) to form CO2.
Without trees, this problem – fires and CO2 would not exist.
Cheers,
Klaus of the Schwab Family
I AM THE SCIENCE DEPT WEF (Woke Environment Forum)