Response to Nathan Mulholland (Forest Tree Service)

Hi everyone,

This is a response to a comment made today by Nathan Mulholland, an employee with Forest Tree Service.

The following points Mr Mulholland made were misleading and untrue:

"works are being completed under the full authority of Wangicaribee council, backed up by an AQF5 Arborist tree report, with WIRES complete authority."

This week multiple trees were removed from the Annesley Retirement Village.  There is no current Development Application for this work. Annesley had submitted a DA in 2017 (17/06/05), however, it expired in May 2022. The DA wasn't safety based but related to the location of trees. 

With the DA expired, Annesley obtained a tree removal exemption from Council. A condition of consent for the tree removal was the submission of a Landscape Plan (tree replacement plan). This has not been submitted to Council. Another condition of consent was that the neighbours be consulted, something which did not occur. Work ought not to have commenced.

This week WIRES head office told us they were not involved in the tree clearing. However, the local WIRES representative in the Southern Highlands has been in regular contact with us. She has not had any contact with Forest Tree Service and opposes the tree removal.

"The “photo” of the two possums in the tree is clearly of a completely different tree. Not the one which is being removed."

The possums we have photographed each night are the same ones, and yes they do still live in the Cypress pine despite our desperate attempts to entice them to relocate to a possum box.

The mature female possum in all the photos is Big Mamma - she has a cut on her left ear.  The joey is Piglet, named because of her distinctive, upturned nose. Big Mamma has lived in the Cypress pine for close to 10 years. We have three maple trees which grow beneath the Cypress pine and act as a scaffold for the possums to climb up to the higher Cypress tree branches. Last night I took photos of the possums descending from the Cypress pine. However, the photo I displayed - mother and daughter - shows them sitting on the maple tree branch directly below the Cypress pine. 

"The original post on this claims the tree is over 100 years old, however, the Leightons Green, which this tree is, and which you can see many good examples of in the immediate vicinity have a lifespan of roughly 10-25 years."

Critically, Forest Tree Service has got the species of tree wrong. This tree is a Cypress pine. This is evident from the shape and colour of the leaves and the distinctive cones. Cypress pines line both sides of Aitken Road and can be seen in historic photos from the 1930s. The tree in question was originally located within the grounds of the Annesley School for Girls, circa 1921. Cypress trees can live over 500 years. 

The Cypress pine is several metres away from Aitken Road, in front of Unit 26.  This section, the north western corner of Annesley, was identified as retaining remnant vegetation in the 2011 Land Use Application. This vegetation was always supposed to be retained. As with so many conditions of consent, they are forgotten over time.

Can the tree be saved?

We believe the tree can still be saved. The tree is still safe and the damage has not led to danger of the tree falling. It retains a full canopy and foliage on its eastern side and provides a beautiful view from our garden. The view from the street however is not so attractive now.

Thank you 

Thank you everyone for your participation in this petition, even the comment made by Mr Mulholland was much appreciated as we are able to point out to people what the truth really is and how it is more important than ever to save this spectacular tree.