‘This is a crisis’: Town of Victoria Park latest council to urge State to protect trees on private land

The Town of Victoria Park has become the latest council to attempt to sway the State Government to protect trees on private properties after its mayor described Perth’s tree canopy as a “crisis”. At a meeting last week, the Town of Victoria Park council unanimously voted to submit its Draft Local Planning Scheme No. 2 to the WA Planning Commission. The scheme includes a new section which would require landowners to seek development approval to remove a tree if it met certain criteria. The new section — which was added after the council voted on an amendment made by mayor Karen Vernon — meant trees which were 8m or taller, had a tree canopy of 6m or wider and were on a significant tree register could not be removed without development approval. Ms Vernon’s amendment was carried 6-3, with Cr Lindsay Miles, Cr Sky Croeser and Cr Peter Devereux voting against it. The City of Nedlands and the City of South Perth have both failed to get State Government support in their attempts to increase metropolitan tree canopy coverage via their local planning schemes after being rejected by Planning Minister John Carey. Ms Vernon said WA had the weakest legislation of all Australian States when it came to protecting trees on private properties, resulting in a “significant loss” of tree canopy coverage in the metropolitan area. “Given the weather in Perth and the impacts of global warming, this is a crisis and it’s vital that we preserve our remaining mature trees,” she said. “The majority of tree canopy losses occurs on private lands, despite council’s advocacy over recent years to have regulation of mature trees on private land. “These efforts have been hampered back by lack of support at State Government level.” Ms Vernon said the State Government’s refusal to change the planning schemes in other councils to protect trees was “disheartening and disappointing”. “Some might say there’s no point in even trying to continue to advocate for these types of planning protections because there’s a clear State Government mindset against such tree protection,” she said. “That is the very reason why we have to add our voices to those of others to continue to make the case of change.” But Mr Carey said his Government “supported” proposals such as voluntary significant tree registers, which enhanced Perth’s tree canopy. “I want to be clear — our Government supports the intent of proposals to enhance and grow our urban tree canopy and we will engage with WALGA and other key stakeholders during the development of a State-led Urban Greening Strategy for Perth and Peel,” he said. “The State Government supports the establishment of voluntary significant tree registers through local planning schemes as a mechanism to protect trees on private land.” Cr Devereux said he was “disappointed” by the amendment and wanted Victoria Park to try a “different path forward” given it had been rejected by other councils. “I don’t think it’s going to help us, I don’t think it’s going to help the cause of greater tree coverage in Perth,” he said. “I think it seems to me that we would be better served by looking at what has been experienced to date where no councils have got anything accepted by the minister and try a different path forward. “I think that will take some time to ascertain ... not just repeating what a number of councils have already done that’s been rejected, but actually look for an opportunity to see what are the chances of doing something differently that might be more successful.” Cr Peter Melrosa weighed in on the debate with an anecdote about a “bloody massive tree” in his backyard, which he said provided “immense value” to its surrounding neighbours. “If we were to just decide ... ‘We’re going to bulldoze (the tree)‘, all of a sudden we’ve dramatically changed everything about the amenity in our area ... my singular decision has completely decimated an entire street block,” he said. “You can see my tree from three streets away; it’s huge, it’s a living statue and to remove it with no questions (and) no assessment is just absurd.” If approved, the scheme will replace the Town of Victoria Park’s Planning Scheme No. 1, which was implemented 25 years ago. Last month the State Government announced it was committed to developing a new Urban Planning Strategy to “enhance tree canopy and greening across the Perth and Peel region”. “Our Government has introduced a number of different policy mechanisms to support tree canopy including the DesignWA suite of State planning policies that include provisions that require and incentivise retention of existing trees, new tree planting, deep soil zones, soft landscaping and communal and private open space in low to higher density developments,” Mr Carey said.