Residents fight for Erskineville trees
Image: Source: facebook.com
By Georgia Fullerton
Erskineville residents have called on the City of Sydney Council to preserve a number of fig trees that are due to be cut down as part of an Ashmore precinct development plan. According to council’s website, the plan will see “a new residential neighbourhood with local shops, cafes and a small supermarket”.
Between 25 and 40 large trees will be removed, including a number of fig and gum trees on the corner of Ashmore Street and Mitchell Road.
With 31 trees already cut down by developers, local residents have started a petition to preserve the remaining trees, saying it would take around 30 years to replant them.
Darren Jenkins, President of local resident committee Friends of Erskineville, said the iconic fig trees are landmarks of Erskineville.
“They define the streetscape far better than any mega-apartment structure ever could,” he said.
“At a time when other councils are taking court action to protect local heritage and punish those who would destroy it, the City of Sydney is sitting idly by while Erskineville’s environmental heritage is being torn up.”
Labor councillor Linda Scott was approached by Erskineville residents and will table a petition calling for the trees to be saved at the next City of Sydney Council meeting.
“Erskineville has a history of being a more industrial suburb, it just doesn’t have a legacy of gorgeous large trees,” she said.
“There are fig trees in very scarce areas of Erskineville, then there’s essentially no other large fig trees. They’ve all been either removed or never planted in the first place. It’s been forgotten in council planning just how important these fig trees are to the community.”
A City of Sydney spokesperson said that as part of the development, more than 200 new trees would be planted in order to increase the amount of trees in the area.
“Around 40 percent of these trees will be native species and will provide extensive habitat for wildlife,” the spokesperson said.
“This planting program will result in a major increase in the number of trees and will help the City achieve its policy of increasing the City’s tree canopy by 50 percent by 2030.”
