As of the 4th April, the Parks tree feller has been cutting down trees at the Park for almost a month. He arrived out of the blue telling the Guards that he had come to “cut the trees” They phoned me to ask if I had sent them. I said NO and he then said Parks had sent him so they had no right to refuse him entry to the field.
I tried everyone at the Depot with no success to find out about this and by the time I got there he had already felled our beautiful iconic, white, single trunk, 85+ year old gum tree which a tree expert had told us was not a danger at all. I was shocked.
I then got an email from the Manager of Depot 406 telling me that they did not think it necessary to advise me/FOFS and that they had a “lengthy meeting with the tree feller” and “that the trees will be identified ………. and closely monitored on a daily basis”. I have not seen any sign of this and the man randomly picked trees as he went along.
Of interest is that among the many people we have engaged with we have been told that gum wood is valued for it’s slow burning and Pizza ovens need it. It sells for a good price and he is getting the wood to sell as he is “assisting” Parks by cutting the trees for free. He is obviously not interested in the dead oaks which need to come down and new trees planted. Profitable “assistance”.
With the free for all cutting in the Park someone else marched onto the W. Bank and started to cut there. Luckily a Parks member happened to be there and the guards were told to stop him. The Park needs us all to keep our eyes open.
I was told our tree feller would be cutting for a month and with all the emails flying thanks to Heather Oosthuizen who contacted numerous people, experts eg. Marietta Liefferink, Conservationists, Conservancies, Govt. Depts. and spreading their opinions around, the cutting was stopped but it was still a whole month.
These contacts revealed new thinking regarding Gum trees which debunk old views. We have been told there was to be an “internal” meeting i.o.w. we and you, the Park user, are not party to this.
Rose Johnson
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