Councillor Don Palmer Providing Local Leadership & Working for You

Yesterday saw a group of She-oak trees being poisoned notwithstanding an agreement with local residents that at least two of them would be saved.

At a meeting a week ago last Thursday which I attended, held at the home of one of the affected residents where senior DPTI staff agreed that two of their trees could be saved. Saved from removal to allow construction of the Greenway bike path running  within the adjacent rail corridor, part of the Greenways project.

Despite this assurance the work has proceeded, forewarned by a formal letter received too late to respond to.

DPTI indicated originally that it was necessary to allow excavation of service trenches in the immediate area of the trees. Interesting to note that the excavation has commenced and it is on the other side of the proposed path.

It was then decreed it was necessary because of the need to excavate for the path in the corridor but they agreed that excavation would not be required and that two of the trees may be able to withstand the compaction of the filling that would be required for the path (as opposed to excavation).

Time will tell but I wonder if the levels of the path that will eventuate in this area will be well above what they could have been (particularly with the need to ensure DDA compliance as the path works towards the nearby road footpath). It looks to me that this will be the case.

Looking on site this morning and the yellow lines indicating locations, it appears the path feeding off into Cowper Road will go smack through where the trees are, sorry were. This is not as per drawing s received any the residents of Cowper Road. It is almost a case of we must find a way to have the final construction vindicate the decision to remove the trees.

And in an effort to have an understanding between DPTI and residents their Project Management agreed to provide a plan with design levels so that I might (as a building practitioner) decipher what is and is not, what can or cannot and it took a week to get that plan, and clearly (given what has happened) no time to enact upon it. Not even to determine if the plan received is accurate and current. Reports received indicate that the work being carried out is NOT in accordance with the plan they have been liaising on.

I posted some time ago that DPTI simply DO NOT GET IT.

Well I guess I have to add to that …. THEY CA NOT BE TRUSTED.