Councils warning to tree vandals

KIAMA Council have warned harsh penalties will apply to anyone found guilty of deliberately vandalising flora as two trees on council property struggle to stay alive after being ringbarked.

Three members of the Kiama rugby club contacted councils manager for parks and the environment Peter Stuckey after finding the trees in a dilapidated state whilst carrying out handy work behind the rugby clubhouse.

?We had a look at the trees and found that they had definitely been ringbarked. At this stage we are investigating the matter and we will be making further inquiries, Mr Stuckey said. These are significant trees and there are very heavy penalties imposed by the courts for this sort of damage.

Once we have received further information we will no doubt be seeking to prosecute the offenders. The courts have been imposing heavy fines for this sort of thing, this is a very serious matter.

These trees are on a public reserve and this is a pretty deliberate act of vandalism.

A Batemans Bay man recently had his appeal against a $10,000 fine rejected in the Land and Environment court after the judge found that by cutting down a Eucalyptus tree in a neighbouring park he had put his financial and aesthetic needs above all others to improve his water views.

"Whether the offence was motivated by greed for a better view, or greed for more financial gain is neither here nor there, it is still an offence of greed where a private individual puts his own interests above those of the community and breaches the planning laws by not allowing a proper assessment to be completed prior to an irreversible tree lopping exercise," said the local magistrate. Sometimes, the desire of a property owner to capture or improve water views, with the concomitant benefits, overcomes the owners self-control to comply with this regulatory scheme.

Action is taken without seeking and obtaining the requisite consent of the regulatory authority. The law is broken.

Mr Stuckey said despite the dire state of the ringbarked trees it was possible they may yet survive saying it was too hard to tell at this stage.

Trees are quite hard to get to grow along there and for someone to deliberately try and level the area is extremely disappointing, he said. These trees were obviously planted by the rugby club as a screen to help create both privacy and a barrier for the noise. We are going to be looking into this matter extremely closely and as soon as we receive any reliable information we will be looking to seek prosecution.

President of the Kiama Rugby Union Club, Mark Burns said the trees were planted for an obvious purpose saying he was disappointed someone would resort to ringbarking them for their own personal gain.

It is quite annoying really. Kiama rugby club is trying to promote a community friendly club and in doing so we are very aware of any concerns our neighbours may have. While we try to utilise the clubhouse facilities as much as we can we always look to remain diligent of our neighbours needs, he said. It is alarming that people are cutting down any trees without permission however these trees are in place to help offer privacy and act as a screen against noise pollution. It is disappointing one person would choose to nullify these benefits for their fellow neighbours.