Milang residents have won a victory in their fight to save one of the town’s iconic Norfolk pine trees.
The pine on Paddlesteamer Drive became the focus of community action after its companion was removed late last month. Arborists, contracted by the Department for Environment and Water, had taken it down following complaints from shack owners that the roots were cracking concrete on their properties.
About 15 community members staged a protest on the morning of the 26th of August to block contractors from taking down the second tree, with one person even spending the night at its base.
The trees, planted in the 1950s to guide sailors, have long been an important part of Milang’s identity, providing shade, bird habitat, and a link to the town’s history.
The Department for Environment and Water (DEW) told community members yesterday that the tree on Crown Land will not be removed and will instead be monitored by an arborist every five years to manage root growth and any related issues.
Organiser Sarah Hope said the protest was crucial to achieving a positive outcome.
“There was actually a ministerial inquiry into the decision and the process they went through, because there was a lot of miscommunication, a lot of non-communication, and a lot of it seemed a little underhanded — we didn’t know about it until the chainsaws came,” Sarah Hope told ARN’s Adam Connelly and Jennie Lenman this morning.
Hope attributing the success to the ‘power of the people’ along with media coverage, including ARN breaking the story on the morning of the protest.
“Absolutely everyone came together to stand up for our tree and our town, and really show the politicians that you just can’t do that. We had a lot of people writing emails, making phone calls, we had petitions.”
