Residents wage seven-year battle with council to remove dangerous tree – Sydney Morning Herald

The towering blue gum tree, also known as a widowmaker, has been dropping branches on neighbours, damaging the footpath and creating huge cracks in the floor and wall of his garage and courtyard for at least seven years.

Richard Clarke said a tree outside his Darlinghurst home had caused extensive damage to his property. Brook Mitchell

The roots of the tree have also completely blocked a stormwater drain, which leads to flooding when it rains heavily, he said.

But Clarke and his neighbours on their Darlinghurst street are at loggerheads with the City of Sydney over who is ultimately responsible for its removal.

Clarkes neighbour Jane Milton said homeowners in her strata block had spent seven years and thousands of dollars in arborist and engineering reports trying to convince the council that the tree is dangerous and causing property damage.

Milton and her neighbours have forked out about $8000 to rectify the damage they say has been caused by the tree.

Boughs have dropped, narrowly missing cars and pedestrians several times, she said.

A council spokesman said the tree was located on private property and was the responsibility of the strata-managed block that owns the land.

The tree sits in a garden bed in a lane that is part of Miltons strata block. However, the strata owners say the council has maintained the garden bed and had lopped tree branches in the past.

A council officer this month also told Clarke that falling third and fourth order branches were not uncommon during severe weather were and not a valid reason to remove a tree.

Milton said residents were willing to pay for the removal of the tree and seek reimbursement later, but the council was yet to grant permission without conditions which are difficult to meet, such as the type of replacement and where it should go.

Several expert reports have been commissioned by Miltons strata committee, including one that concludes: Serious consideration should be taken regarding its removal.

Darlinghurst residents say a towering blue gum has dropped branches and caused property damage, costing them thousands of dollars in repairs and expert reports. Brook Mitchell

However, a council arborist inspected the tree in September 2022 and determined the tree was not dangerous at the time of inspection, the spokesman said.

He said the owners could retain the tree and make repairs in line with a 2021 engineers report they had commissioned.

The second option is to remove the tree and plant a suitable species on the privately owned land where there is adequate space both above and below ground for the tree to thrive, he said.

Pagin + Mak Lawyers director Patrick Pagin said residents could go to the Land and Environment Court, which has a division dedicated to tree disputes, for an order to have the tree pruned or removed if it is on private property.

He said the court would require evidence that the tree posed a danger and a report from an arborist recommending pruning or removal.

The tree stoush follows calls from councils across Sydney for . Local councils also say efforts to plant more trees to combat heat waves have been undermined by the illegal removal of healthy trees on private property.

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Residents wage seven-year battle with council to remove dangerous tree - Sydney Morning Herald