Cheek of it: Gerroa's Bum Tree to get chop

By BEN LANGFORDFeb. 9, 2014, 8:30 p.m.

POLL: Gerroa's ''Bum Tree'' will be chopped down in a move the council says will make the Gerroa Road corner safer.

Gerroa residents are incensed by Shoalhaven City Council's decision - in a confidential meeting - to chop down the iconic "Bum Tree" along with many other large gums on Gerroa Road near Berry.

The move was proposed to make the corner safer - it has been the scene of several accidents - and involves clearing six metres of all trees at the site.

This would mean the end of the well-known Bum Tree, which has growths protruding from its trunk in the shape of two buttocks, and on which some local wit has for many years painted the word "BUM" and an arrow.

Gerroa Environmental Protection Society president Warren Holder said the Bum Tree, a type of eucalypt called a blackbutt, is one of many that are important habitat for local wildlife, including sugar gliders.

They have now been invited by the council for a consultation meeting this afternoon to find out more about the decision, and to discuss options for using "part of the tree in an alternative form".

But today residents will hold a protest at the site.

The thought of a "bumectomy" has some locals horrified.

Mr Holder said it was "ridiculous" to invite residents for consultation on what to do with pieces of the tree once felled.

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Cheek of it: Gerroa's Bum Tree to get chop