25-01-2024
Upper Lachlan Shire will commence works associated with the removal of the street trees in Goulburn Street, Crookwell over the coming weeks. The trees to be removed are located in the main precinct between Spring Street and Roberts Street.
The Street features an avenue of Ornamental Pear trees that were planted in the 1996. In the last 12 – 18 months three trees have dropped significant limbs creating safety concerns for pedestrians, vehicles and buildings.
Council engaged an independent arborist to undertaken an inspection of the trees following these incidents of branch failures. The arborist report indicated that the existing trees are from old root stock and mass produced during that period resulting in the poor performance of the trees, ongoing failures and short life expectancy. Based on these findings it was recommended that the remaining trees be removed primarily for safety reasons.
Upper Lachlan Shire Council CEO Alex Waldron said:
“These trees have a history of limb failures over the last 18 months and there have been a number incidents involving them with a recent incident of a large limb landing on a car. This presents an unacceptable risk and based on the arborists advice they will need to be removed.”
To preserve the character of the street, the removed trees will be replanted with a suitable street tree using mature stock around three metres tall. This will form an avenue of trees along the length of the street in the coming years.
Prior to replanting, the site will be prepared by reducing soil compaction and the addition of soil amendments to assist strong growth. Vehicle access restrictions will apply to this site to prevent future soil compaction which will compromise growth.
Replanting is expected to occur over the coming months.