Almost every plane tree in Hamilton’s CBD should be removed to stop further damage from roots and risks to pedestrians, an audit has found, but the chainsaws are likely five or six years away.
What happened: At Tuesday’s council meeting, Southern Grampians councillors unanimously accepted an audit and endorsed the removal process of the trees across all three stages of the Hamilton CBD Streetscape Revitalisation project.
Stage one: The decision follows council’s December 5-1 vote to remove 25 trees along Gray Street after they were all found to have caused significant damage to footpaths and shopfronts due to their large roots.
In April, councillors delayed adoption of new CBD design plans until a “happy medium” could be found regarding the trees.
A petition to save the trees attracted 538 signatures at the time, highlighting the CBD’s “rich canopy that has taken three decades to form” and its environmental and aesthetic benefits, including oxygen production, biodiversity support, flood alleviation, and tourism appeal.
In August, the Hamilton CBD Streetscape Project Advisory Group was formed, comprising local business owners and community members from both sides of the debate.
Not so plain: Plane trees are native to Europe and North America, with large leafy canopies. Their roots, however, have been known to grow to large sizes and cause damage to footpaths, drainage and pipes. The ones in Hamilton are more than 40 years old.
Next phases: The same method has now been applied to 38 trees in stage two and 28 in stage three, along Thompson Street, Brown Street and remaining parts of Gray Street not covered in stage one.
Director Rory Neeson told the meeting the results showed “a high majority of the trees having ratings that would recommend removal”.
When will they be removed? Stages two and three of the CBD upgrade are “five, six years away”, according to Neeson, with trees only being taken down “when works are happening in that section of the streets”.
Trees posing a danger would be removed much sooner.
“Council won’t be wearing the risk of having trees within the CBD that are causing a risk to pedestrians,” Neeson said.
Now what? Replacement species for the streetscape are yet to be selected.