Westender publishes the following official council response to the tree disappearance at 108 Boundary St, West End
Environment, Parks and Sustainability Chairman Matthew Bourke said based on a request from one of the property owners, an arborist had assessed the tree earlier this year and recommended that it be removed.
“Urban trees provide benefits that are important to our city’s liveability and our subtropical landscape character, so their removal is not taken lightly,” Cr Bourke.
“However we must also respect the rights of adjacent property owners and that for every person concerned about the removal of a tree, there’s someone else worried it may fall on their property and cause serious damage.
“Council seeks to retain significant trees wherever possible, but in this case removal was the responsible course of action given its restricted location and the history of its neighbouring trees.
“The first of the neighbouring trees fell against the nearby building during a storm in November 2012, and the second tree was uprooted and landed on the road during the Australia Day storm event in 2013.”