By Dominique Tassell
Southern Downs Regional Council (SDRC) has stated they will consult with the community on future changes to the Warwick streetscape after removing four trees from a Warwick CBD street.
Early in the morning of 15 September, four Claret Ash trees outside the Criterion Hotel were removed without any known consultation with the community.
A SDRC spokesperson stated that the trees will be replaced with planter boxes “to freshen up the streetscape”.
This comes after shared zone signs were replaced with 40km/hr regulatory speed signs in the Warwick CBD in July 2021, also with minimal community consultation.
The spokesperson stated that they want to retain the CBD’s iconic tree-lined streetscape, however did state that “if successful, the current trial could…possibly be rolled out further”.
The trees were removed in part due to the roots damaging footpaths and the street.
SDRC Chief Executive Officer, Dave Burges, stated that “the trees were not in the best of health, they had some disease”.
“There has been damage to infrastructure such as footpaths and it was felt that would be a good trial section.”
He stated that damage caused by the trees to Warwick CBD streets is very evident.
“So we chose those four, we didn’t consult with community because we had to do it, and we tried to minimise the impact by doing just four at this stage.
The CEO stated that they will be engaging with the community for feedback on the planter boxes before rolling out anything further.
He said they’ll be “tasteful and attractive planter boxes” and SDRC “may have some community input into the style of that”.
SDRC Mayor Vic Pennisi said the trees “can’t be left indefinitely” as the damage is clear on the roads in Warwick.
He said you can see the die back on the western front of the trees.
“At some stage it has to be addressed.”
He stated that the planter boxes solution means there’s no damage to infrastructure.
“We’ll trial them, we’ll see how they go,” he said. “The community will tell us what they think.”
The CEO stated that SDRC has applied for half a million dollars in funding under the Building Better Regions Fund to deal with the broader streetscape issue in the region.
If successful, SDRC will be rolling out a million dollar streetscape program using funds from the grant and from SDRC.
Tentatively, $600,000 of that will be allocated to Stanthorpe to continue their streetscape program while some will also be used for implementing Urban Design Framework plans.
Some of the money will be also allocated to trial work in Warwick.
Questions have been raised about how this will affect the Jumpers and Jazz in July festival, as this now may mean four less trees for use in the festival.
SDRC Chief Executive Officer, Dave Burges, stated that they have not made definitive plans for the planter boxes, however he envisages mature trees in the boxes.
“We’ll be hoping to put in reasonably mature trees…it’s certainly my expectation that they’ll still be usable (for the festival).”
“We’ll consult with the Jumpers and Jazz committee.”
Some locals have questioned why the trial did not occur last year when the festival did not go ahead, with the CEO stating it simply may not have been “at the forefront of our minds”.
He stated they were implementing a “phase in program” and are not quite sure what that will look like yet.
Locals have also questioned whether the quick removal of the trees relates to damage sustained to the Criterion Hotel.
The CEO stated that he is “certainly aware that there has been damage to the Criterion” however he does not believe that the damage is a result of the trees.
He stated that both SDRC and the hotel have investigated the matter.
“We’ve had experts review the matter and we dug along the front of the building and there was no evidence whatsoever of root intrusion,” the CEO said.
“So no, I don’t believe that any damage to the criterion was caused by the trees.
“They may have a different view.”
He emphasised that the action taken by SDRC to remove the trees was to remedy the disease and streetscape issues.
“We know we have a lot of work to do probably in the next couple of years to resolve the problem in a more widespread fashion, so we’ve taken this course of action and that’s where we sit.”
While SDRC have provided these answers as to why they removed the trees, many are still questioning why community consultation was not undertaken.
Trees were replaced on Grafton Street a few years ago for similar reasons and the community was given the option to vote on the replacement trees.
Four large London Plane Trees were removed from Grafton Street in late September of 2016, however the community was then asked to give feedback on how they should be replaced.
Locals could either vote to have a new parking space or to replace the trees with new ones that had smaller roots; there was a list of trees for locals to choose from should they prefer that option.
Scarlet Oak Trees were eventually chosen to replace the London Plane Trees.
