One of the trees, photographed at an earlier date. Photo: Yass Valley Council.
A Capital Country council has backed down from its plan to remove three mature trees.
Yass Valley Council (YVC) had been working with Essential Energy on plans to remove three trees on Rossi Street – two London plane trees and a white cedar – on safety grounds.
All three are located underneath powerlines or other nearby electrical infrastructure, meaning they need regular pruning.
In a recent report, independent arborist ACT Tree Felling found that risks could be managed with a pruning schedule and other management strategies.
This assessment is valid for the next year.
Earlier this year, the council pointed to independent arborist recommendations and public safety concerns and said they needed to be removed, despite the community’s calls to keep them.
A replanning program was also being organised to replace them.
Councillor Adrian Cameron, who had repeatedly called for more consultation around the trees, welcomed the news.
“It’s good to see Yass Valley Council listening to our community and getting that second arborist opinion on the 104-year-old trees in Rossi St,” he wrote on social media following the report’s release.
“A great result for our environment!!”
According to the recent reassessment, earlier reports had raised concerns that parts of the trees would fall and hit a person or infrastructure.
They are located under HV powerlines and an aerial bundled cable, while two of them extend over parts of Rossi Street and private property.
One of the plane trees and the cedar were described as being pruned into ‘open vase’ form to prevent them from contacting the powerlines.
These trees have sound branch unions, regrowth from past prunings or good wound occlusion.
The other plane tree was cut back to a three-metre high stump (as of an August inspection).
ACT Tree Felling’s report states that both kinds of trees rarely fail under loading unless they are significantly compromised (such as by fungi).
“The assessment found no visual indicators suggesting structural failure ‘probable’ or ‘possible’.
“Within the next 12 months, it is unlikely that a part of these trees will fail in a way that could cause significant/severe property damage or personal injury.
Community advocates urged Yass Council to keep the trees. Photo: Adrian Cameron – Greens Councillor for Yass Valley Facebook.
ACT Tree Felling also found that their risk had been overstated in two earlier reports to the council.
“While these reports contained some useful background information, they demonstrate a lack of training in ISA Tree Risk Assessment methodology,” the document states.
This means the trees should have been given a ‘somewhat likely’ rating (for their risk), rather than the ‘likely’ rating that was assigned.
According to the report, pruning the cedar tree would cost between $1,500 and $3,000 each year.
An estimate for pruning the plane trees wasn’t given.
ACT Tree Felling recommends further assessments every few years (or sooner if defects or damage are noticed).
In a statement, a YVC spokesperson thanked the community for their feedback over the past months.
“Council is now in discussion with Essential Energy to determine future management options for the trees, with the need to take into consideration their natural amenity while ensuring community safety and minimising potential disruption to power infrastructure.
“These options and assessments will also contribute to council’s broader work on developing a comprehensive tree management strategy for Yass Valley.”
The barriers around the trees have also been removed.
The new reassessment is available on the council’s website.
