Wembley Downs residents are watching on in distress as chainsaws begin cutting down a 36-year-old verge tree, despite desperate pleas for the City of Stirling to delay its removal until questions are answered.
Environmental scientist and local resident Adelaide Bevilaqua said she was called to the scene around 9.30am by a devastated neighbour.
She said residents had asked the city to explain why the mature eucalyptus mannifera had to go, but were told further details could not be provided for legal reasons.
The tree, on the corner of Dover Crescent and Buxton Road, has become the centre of a growing community campaign, with residents and tree advocates questioning whether every alternative had been explored before its removal.
Police and city rangers have been called to the scene, with officers giving those trying to halt the removal until 11am before they are required to move on.
One resident even parked her car under the tree so loppers could not cut it down, but despite best efforts her car has now been removed.
“I’m happy to be pragmatic about it if it does need to go, but I just feel like the community deserves more details,” Ms Bevilaqua said.
“They’re saying that they can’t give those details for legal reasons.
“And I said, well, what’s legally confidential about letting us know what infrastructure risk is?”
Ms Bevilaqua said residents had also asked for the removal to be delayed until a council meeting, but were told the work was proceeding because of an imminent risk.
“Even though the tree’s been here 40 years...,” she said.
“I’m sorry I’m getting emotional.”
As the first branches began coming down, Ms Bevilaqua said she was watching the removal unfold in distress.
“Now I’m just watching the first branch come down,” she said.
The 17 metre-tall tree has about 17square metres of canopy coverage and is owned by the city, with its proposed removal sparking an outpouring of community concern after the plans were shared on a local Facebook page.
WA Tree Canopy Advocates chair Sarah Allchurch said removing a mature tree without providing the community with a clear explanation was unacceptable.
“The council needs to stop the chainsaws immediately and explain itself,” she said.
“The City of Stirling is very good at telling residents how much it values trees. This is an opportunity to demonstrate that commitment by showing exactly why this magnificent tree cannot be saved.”
Ms Allchurch said the city appeared to be contradicting the principles of its tree management policy, which prioritises retaining verge trees and limiting the circumstances in which they could be removed.
She said the City of Stirling had lost 1.3 million square metres of trees in recent years, more than almost any other Perth council.
City of Stirling mayor Mark Irwin said the city had not received a request to remove the tree.
Instead, he said the city had assessed the tree after concerns were raised about its root system and potential impacts on surrounding private infrastructure.
“A detailed assessment process found that the tree’s root system had impacted private infrastructure and that retaining the tree risked significant future structural damage that could not be reasonably mitigated through management measures,” he said.
“Consistent with the city trees policy, the city seeks to retain trees wherever possible and removal is only considered after alternative management measures have been assessed.”
Mr Irwin said root management works had been considered but were likely to cause instability and a rapid decline in the tree.
He said moving the infrastructure away from the tree was also not possible, and no reasonable long-term options had been identified that would preserve the tree while adequately managing the risk of significant structural damage.
The city was unable to provide the Western Suburbs Weekly with a copy of the arborist’s report.