THE ELM TREE

 

The fate of a Dutch elm tree near York Park - otherwise known as UTAS Stadium - will be decided by councillors and not council planners.


A planning report submitted to the City of Launceston council said the tree stands in the way of proposed redevelopments to the stadium, making its removal a "priority item".

The Sycamore Gap tree at Hadrian’s Wall has been felled in what police are calling an act of vandalism.

The Dutch elm tree, planted some time between 1944 and 1954, is not marked as significant.

The surrounding grounds are heritage listed due to their cultural significance.

As such the tree's possible removal, and its impact on the Inveresk precinct's heritage status, needs to be assessed by council planning officers.

The Examiner readers were up in arms when the proposal was reported, voicing their concerns in an online comment section.

David Broughton called on the stadium's designers to have more "imagination".

"Where is the imagination that architects are supposed to have, there's always an alternative if pursued. Dutch elms need protection," he said.

Theresa Richardson said the tree's impending removal was particularly concerning as the species worldwide was threatened by Dutch elm disease - a fungal infection not yet found in Australia.

"So, we have a seemingly perfectly healthy Dutch elm with a chainsaw hanging over it while all around the world elms are succumbing to a very nasty pathogen? Is there no other way around this," she said.

Council chief executive Sam Johnson said given the sensitive nature of the tree's possible removal, the planning application would not be approved by planning officers and instead put to councillors.

"Given the sensitive nature and political nature surrounding the the tree, at the request of some of the councillors, we will present the matter to a workshop, and subsequently we will then present it to the council for consideration," he said.

Mr Johnson said the council had sought a second opinion from one of its own arborists.

The planning application is scheduled to be decided by councillors on September 5.

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