There is a chance of compromise if the car park is reduced from 20 spots then the tree can stay, but either way, nothing will happen until after public consultation. 

According to Eurobodalla Council’s director of infrastructure Warren Sharpe, the Tilba District Chamber of Commerce made representations about the need for improved parking to support the town of Central Tilba.

“An inspection of the village was undertaken with Chamber of Commerce representatives, after which minor works were undertaken to Tilba Punkally Road to allow easier parallel parking in the area,” Mr Sharpe said.

“The chamber also indicated they supported the removal of a single eucalypt tree to provide additional parking at the northern end of town, initially as informal parking.

“Council wrote to nearby residents and businesses to ask their views with the majority of submissions indicating support for the removal of the tree. Council did receive a petition from a number of people who were against the removal of the tree.”

“Council subsequently received a submission from the Tilba District Chamber of Commerce to the 2016-17 Operations Plan, highlighting the need for additional parking in Central Tilba and identified the road reserve below the ABC Cheese Factory at the northern end of town. This area has the tree on the land. Councillors agreed and allocated $175,000 for the construction of a formal car park in the 2016-17 budget.

“Council is now preparing formal plans for the car park and will soon engage with the broader community on the detailed plans. If approved, the construction of the car park does mean the eucalypt tree will need to be removed as it is in the centre of the car park aisle. The site of the proposed car park is on the road reserve below the Cheese Factory.”

Among those opposing the removal of the tree is Emerald Adams.

“The car park should be designed to accommodate the tree as we live in an era where every carbon-sequestering, soil-structuring, air/water filtering entity is obviously essential...and people come to the village not only to consume the trinkets in the shops but to connect with this land and all that grows upon it,” Ms Adams said.

“In the interests of showing how the tree is recognised as an incredibly valuable piece of the Earth, people have been writing and sending love letters to the tree. I've been arranging them from the boughs and around the trunk to create a bit of eclectic collaborative art in the interest of heartfelt activism.

“We want to stress that we, those who see the clear value of the tree, recognise the need for more parking over the four most busy weeks of summer, but because it is such a short period and because the natural world is already in such a fragile state, the car park should never find itself preferenced over a well-established native tree.

“We need to recognise that our community in the village is so prosperous because of the vibrant environment in which it exists, and thus it's a truly irresponsible, thoughtless and unjustifiable act to degrade that land.

“We hope the letters will encourage others to appreciate the true value of the land and its non-human inhabitants - the youngest contributors, at seven years old, seem to have grasped the concept just as well as the compassionate, intelligent adults who have offered art and words to the cause.”