THE removal of six coral trees at Tea Gardens is unfortunate yet unavoidable says Great Lakes Council’s manager of parks and recreation Andrew Staniland.
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The coral trees, situated along Marine Drive between Maxwell and Ogden Streets, will be removed by council after the summer holidays and replaced with native trees as part of the first stage of improving the treescape along the waterfront.
“The coral tree has a substantial root system capable of damaging pipes and road pavements.”
- Great Lakes Council’s manager of parks and recreation Andrew Staniland.
The trees were scheduled to be removed on Wednesday (November 19) but this was deferred after 30 Tea Gardens’ residents protested near the site to voice their distaste at the removal.
Mr Staniland said while it is unfortunate that the trees have to be removed they have been identified as an environmental weed.
“The coral tree has a substantial root system capable of damaging pipes and road pavements,” he said.
“Recent road works undertaken along this section of Marine Drive are in jeopardy of invasion by the root system of the coral trees.
“In addition, coral trees are prone to drop limbs and can present a hazard in public areas.”
He said council has been progressively removing the trees from public reserves due to safety concerns.
“Most recently we removed six coral trees from the Lone Pine Memorial Park in Tuncurry and replaced them with suitable native shade trees, substantially improving the amenity and maintenance of the park.”
Council will be planting replacement trees with the aim of having them established prior to the removal of the coral trees which will take place after the peak summer holiday period.