SYDNEY
A community in an affluent part of Sydney’s north shore is searching for vandals who destroyed 265 trees with poison, drills and chainsaws in what the council suspects was an attempt to get better ocean views.
Willoughby council has offered a $10,000 reward for information and is knocking on doors as it attempts to track down those responsible for killing the trees at a waterfront reserve on Willowie Road in Castle Cove.
The mature trees that were destroyed include banksias, cheese trees and Sydney red gums or angophora one was between 80 and 100 years old. Some trees had poison poured into holes that had been drilled into their trunks and others were hacked with chainsaws. “It’s really sad. I was in tears when I found out about this. It’s dreadful,” the Willoughby mayor, Tanya Taylor, said on Wednesday.
“The community is really upset, really disappointed. It beggars belief. It’s not something you think in this day and age that people would do, but there is a sense of entitlement out there.”
Taylor said the council had been alerted to the destruction of the trees in July. She said the council rather than the police was leading the investigation, but she wanted to see whoever was responsible charged with criminal offences. “I would like to see them prosecuted. This is not acceptable. We won’t tolerate this kind of action for a selfish return,” she said.
The council has erected large banners and a mobile billboard near the reserve to encourage anyone who may have seen or heard anything suspicious to come forward.
A spokesperson for the New South Wales police said Willoughby council had advised the force of the incident. “Officers from north shore [police area command] will work with the council. However, the council is leading inquiries,” they said.
The Willoughby Environmental Protection Association president, John Moratelli, said “basically every tree” in an area of land equivalent to 14 tennis courts had been destroyed in what he said was an act of “breathtaking selfishness”.
“It’s very distressing people treasure the beautiful plants and animals of the area,” said Moratelli, who is also an independent councillor on the council. “There has been a history in Sydney of trees which obscure views being poisoned. In my opinion it’s hard to explain it in any other way.”
The council has also raised concerns about the potential for the poison used to kill the trees leaching into the soil and harming burrowing animals such as bandicoots and echidnas as well as marine life in Middle Harbour.
When contacted for comment, the planning minister, Paul Scully, said: “If there are allegations of vandalism, this matter should be referred to the police.”
The state’s land and environment court can impose fines of up to $1.1m on individuals who are prosecuted for illegally removing trees.
