Trees, trees and more trees

A late autumn means that the trees shedding leaves this year has been a little later.  It has also meant more than a few people coming into my office asking can we cut down trees so the leaves won’t make a mess or clog drains and gutters. Council’s long-standing policy is that if a tree is not diseased or is a potential danger to people or property then it stays where it is.  We do trim them from time to time but that’s about all.

Our City’s trees are part of our way of life and they make our streets and suburbs look better. We’re not going to chop them down. What we do, however, is make sure our outdoor staff keep the streets, footpaths and drains free of leaves. But we can’t do every street every day so there will be some leaves around until we clean them up.  I think the overwhelming majority of our residents endorse our policy on trees – and we’ll continue to plant more of them.