SEVERAL Padbury residents have raised concerns about what they say is a lack of vegetation between their homes and a busy main road.
Merv Gregory, who has lived in the suburb for 46 years, said vegetation used to screen his home on the corner of Ellison Drive and Vernon Place from Hepburn Avenue but in February 2018 it was “all cleaned out”.
This was to prepare for upgrade works by Main Roads WA at the intersection of Hepburn and Marmion avenues.
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READ NOW“I was told by the City of Joondalup there would be planting at the end of August,” he said.
However, he said the planting, which included six replacement trees, was not enough and his home had been “opened up to all traffic on Hepburn Avenue”, with an increase in noise and a lack of privacy.
He said he contacted the City again and was told no more planting could be done because the warmer weather was not an appropriate time but more would be planted in 2019.
Mr Gregory said he waited another year and was disappointed when just another “six sticks were planted through the gaps”.
“They need to plant six to eight trees in each gap, not in total,” he said.
He said the verge used to be filled with a “grevillea type plant” that was “low to the ground” and provided a “buffer from the cars”.
“If they can’t plant this vegetation again, we at least need more of what they can plant,” Mr Gregory said.
Joondalup chief executive Garry Hunt said the City had undertaken a “streetscape upgrade project” in early 2018, following Main Roads’ upgrade of the intersection, which included clearing “dead shrubs and trees within the verge area between Ellison Drive and Hepburn Avenue”.
“The City undertook planting of replacement trees, with six Agonis flexuosa trees planted in the winter of 2018, and a further seven trees planted in winter 2019,” he said.
“The City will also plant a number of shrubs, which combined with the juvenile trees will help to fill the space over the time.
“The City will continue to monitor this area and consider further tree planting opportunities in future winter planting programs.
“It should also be noted that while vegetation on verges may provide a visual barrier, they are not intended to provide protection from vehicle noise.”
