Eurobodalla Shire councillors with former general manager Warwick Winn. Photos: Eurobodalla Shire Council.
Eurobodalla Shire councillors have learned how divisive trees can be.
At a recent public forum two community members spoke about the importance of maintaining tree canopy in urban environments. Councillors also received a petition requesting action on council land where falling trees have damaged private property in Batehaven.
Kathryn Maxwell, president of the Southcoast Health and Sustainability Alliance (SHASA), spoke about the many benefits that mature trees bring, noting the loss of a number of significant trees in the shire over the years and the resulting decline in tree canopy in urban areas.
She said council needed to properly resource the enforcement of the Significant Tree Register and ensure that if trees were illegally removed offenders were fined and required to cover the costs of replacing them with well-developed alternative trees and maintaining them until they reached maturity.
Ron Snape of Narooma raised the issue of the potentially illegal removal of trees at council’s 10 February public access meeting.
Ms Maxwell said residents should be allowed to plant suitable shade trees on their verges and that trees that died on council land should be replaced within six months with suitable shade tree species.
She said developers should be required to plant shade trees on new residential blocks and council should finalise its tree plan so that avenues of trees could be planted to improve urban amenity.
Iain Fyfe, member of a new Broulee/Mossy Point group called Canopy Tree Matters made similar points in the public forum. He said council’s policy seemed “reactive”.
Councillor Anthony Mayne submitted a question on notice concerning council’s policy, enforcement mechanisms and penalties to deter the illegal removal of trees and other related points.
Council’s general manager Mark Ferguson said council’s biodiversity strategy was coming up soon and that would be the appropriate forum to address the issue.
Council staff and Repurposing for Resilience volunteers at the drop-off point at Moruya Transfer Station.
Following a presentation at the February public access meeting, councillors received a petition from residents of Edward Road, Batehaven requesting urgent attention to overgrown trees, shrubs and grasses on council-managed land behind their homes.
It said the continued lack of maintenance contributed to damage claims which led to rising insurance premiums and costs for residents.
It was the first meeting under the new regime that prohibits private briefings to councillors. A councillor submitted a written question asking if council had previously received similar requests from the residents and said the general manager’s response to the petition appeared that council’s role was reactive in referring the matter to the RFS if the overgrown vegetation was a bushfire hazard.
Council staff responded with details of its regular maintenance schedule and said 16 complaints had been registered in the area since 2011 regarding the issue. Council is constrained, with some of the land listed as an endangered ecological community.
Council staff’s latest inspection in January identified no trees as a hazard. Previous council inspections found vegetation poisoning and damage, and staff have collected rubbish from the site on numerous occasions.
A development application (DA) performance report showed that from 1 July to 31 December 2025 council assessed DAs in 66 days, on average, compared with the government’s requirement of 105 days. Currently 85 per cent of applications meet the 105-day mandate.
The mandated time frame for lodging DAs is seven days, compared with council’s average of nine days. Currently 44 per cent of DAs meet the seven-day mandate. The improvements make council eligible for a grant up to $1 million for infrastructure or housing.
Clr Mayne highlighted some of the achievements in the six-month performance update on council’s 2025/26 operational plan. These included the Bay Pavilions service review, finalising the housing strategy with implementation begun, monitoring and maintaining several asset protection zones on council land, and how much waste was diverted from landfill through reuse and repurposing.
Staff at council’s waste management facilities, particularly Moruya, were praised for their customer service and willingness to help.
A new trails coordinator has been appointed to improve the financial performance and maintenance of Mogo’s mountain bike trails.
Councillors will write to Basil Sellers congratulating him on his appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) and acknowledging his long-term and ongoing support and advocacy for the arts and cultural life of Eurobodalla and the wider Australian community. He will be invited to a function with all the councillors when he next visits.
Councillor Rob Pollack OAM said without Mr Sellers’ help over the past 30 years Eurobodalla would not have half the wonderful facilities it had.
