Wollongong City Council wants Endeavour Energy to do a better job when it comes to pruning trees on public verges, like this example in Fairy Meadow. Photo: Jess Whittaker.
Badly pruned trees can be more than just an eyesore.
Street trees provide much-needed shade in summer, and can help bring the local temperature down a few notches on the hottest days.
When they’ve been hacked back, however, their ability to provide any benefits is limited.
If the pruning is aggressive enough it may kill the trees.
After a particularly aggressive bout of pruning in Fairy Meadow, Wollongong City Council will write to the NSW Minister for Climate Change, Energy, Heritage and Environment to report issues with pruning trees on council verges by energy contractors.
“They look like giant bonsai,” Councillor Jess Whittaker said about the recently pruned trees.
“There’s five beautiful lilly-pillys that have been absolutely ruined; it’s not defensible.
“It’s been going on for years; it takes away the shade impact, amenity and how residents feel about urban spaces.
“There are examples all over the city in Dapto, Coniston, Thirroul and Bulli.”
The council also resolved to write to Endeavour Energy to express ongoing dissatisfaction with their tree pruning practices.
Cr Whittaker said she believed the arborists contracted by Endeavour Energy regularly pruned well beyond the company’s own guidelines, and other energy providers did a better job.
Councillor Richard Martin said he was sceptical about how receptive Endeavour Energy would be to the feedback.
“I’ve brought this up with them and they say the vegetation is cut to specifications which allows regrowth as per their guide,” he said.
“It must be possible to do without making them look completely hacked.”
Cr Martin did acknowledge a number of commenters on Facebook supported the pruning methods.
Councillor Ryan Morris said he was concerned letter writing would “waste [the council’s] political capital”.
“I don’t like the idea of writing letters to places that have the potential to go nowhere,” he said.
Cr Whittaker said unless the council took a stand they accepted reputational damage, as there was a common misconception the council was responsible for the pruning.
“It’s not a waste of political capital to let a minister know we care about issues in our community,” she said.
All councillors except Ryan Morris voted in favour of writing to the Minister for the Environment and to Endeavour Energy.
