Keep a lookout for your trees!

A neighbour’s experience

In late September someone was out and about poisoning large trees in the Coal Point

area. Directly opposite the Progress Hall at No. 292-294 Skye Pt Road two large, 150 year old gum trees were deliberately poisoned via having large holes drilled in the base and Glyphosate poured in. Grass around the base of both trees was also killed. Council was informed but did not respond. The trees have already lost their canopies and look lost, what is not understood is how an ‘Arborist’ had attended unannounced and decided that at least one should be removed, without speaking to the owners.

As the owners we are determined to ensure the perpetrator/s cannot gain or profit from their bad deeds and the tree is not felled, it will be utilised as a Registered Hollow with the Sydney Botanical Gardens (as have a few other Hollows nearby) for study. The trees may have to be trimmed of some outer limbs for safety’s sake but the main trunk and ‘stumpy’ hollowed limbs should last a very long time. There is a sign on the tree, denoting that it is classed as ‘Significant’.

The owners tried a remedy from the Marrickville Community Tree Watch website for saving poisoned Gum Trees, watering in quantities of sugar around the drip line and trunk in an effort to save the only green limb on the lower part of the tree. Hopefully the rain assisted too, fingers crossed.

The incident has been reported to the Police and it is being recorded as Malicious Damage. If you saw anyone in the vicinity of the tree please report it to the police. 

What does it mean for us all…

Our leafy suburb provides a refuge not only for local wildlife but also as a beautiful place

to live; mental health benefits from being around greenery are well documented.

Trees also provide additional value as air conditioners, providing shade but they also protect surfaces such as paintwork, asphalt roads and footpaths from deterioration.

Trees are personal and community assets; by maintaining and protecting old trees we are increasing their value and that of the community. Trees add thousands of dollars to property value and you only have to look at the expensive suburbs of Sydney and they have one thing in common…big trees.

The value of trees also lies in their capacity to store carbon and with the recent IPCC report reiterating that global temperatures have been rising rapidly posing grave risks for humanity, every tree is part of the insurance policy protecting our planet.

Climate change is very real and very present. The CPPA President recently attended the Society of Ecological Restoration conference to present the findings from the Threatened Species project and it was very clear and reiterated throughout the event that climate change is here and not something in the future.


Tein McDonald - “Reversing climate change is mission critical but so is protecting and restoring biodiversity”

Bruce Pascoe “Don’t despair otherwise you are condemning the next generation, we must have hope, keep working and encourage the rest of the world"

By striving to maintain the integrity of our bushland suburb we are doing our bit, one tree at a time.