Ardross residents ‘disappointed’ after Melville council votes to keep 22-metre tree causing ‘fear and despair’

A verge tree in Ardross causing grief for two adjoining properties is here to stay after Melville council voted down a request to replace it with something “more suitable”.

The 22-metre tall river red gum eucalyptus tree has a 12m canopy but has become a nuisance and an inherent risk from dropping giant limbs, residents of Purdie Avenue say.

It also breeds a level of angst and despair for residents at both No.23 and No.25, who struggle to see the good in the tree over their constant clean-up of leaf litter.

But their plea for a replacement tree was knocked back after an arborist’s report found the tree — which is on the verge of 25 Purdie Avenue — was of low risk and had a harm calculation of one in 500,000.

In a split vote last Tuesday, Melville’s representatives chose tree preservation and precedent concerns ahead of the worries emanating from Purdie Avenue.

Nino Notarangelo, who lives at 23 Purdie Avenue, said he was extremely disappointed the council had chosen to “disregard the safety concerns” of he and his wife Erica.

“Having lived here for 40 years, we were both extremely disappointed and thought the decision was unfair,” he said.

“Based on discussions on this issue at the last council meeting, councillors seem more concerned about the reduction of the urban tree canopy and protests from the broader Melville community if the tree was removed, rather than the safety and well-being of residents who live near this tree.”

Mr Notarangelo approached the council earlier this year after his elderly neighbour at 25 Purdie Avenue, who is in her 90s, raised concerns after a 4m-long branch fell in an area of her garden where she regularly hand-waters.

“She was upset that had she been watering there at the time she could have been killed,” Mr Notarangelo said.

Other Purdie Avenue residents had previously approached the council in 2021 with a petition for the tree to be replaced.

Cr Jane Edinger, who took the side of the residents, said the tree was “breeding fear and despair” in Mr and Mrs Notarangelo.

“We cannot overlook the psychosocial impact this particular tree is having on residents and the very fabric of the property at 23 Purdie Avenue,” she said.

“This tree does not create good feelings, it breeds fear and despair and that fear is magnified every time a storm comes through. The despair is due to the never-ending maintenance.”

But Cr Tomas Fitzgerald said the tree’s removal could set a precedent for similar requests and threaten the council’s target of 30 per cent tree canopy coverage by 2040.

“I acknowledge ... that the individual residents’ fear is real and that they are clearly affected by this, but it is also true that the rest of the community have a very real and very visceral sense that we are going backwards on tree canopy coverage,” he said.

“How are we going to achieve our goals of tree canopy cover when every time a tree comes up to the council for removal, there will be good reasons to remove it — otherwise it wouldn’t be coming to us.

“(If) we make a decision to remove that tree, then we create the quite unreasonable expectation that every time we get a report that says the risk (of of a tree) is one in 500,000 there will be a precedent and a basis for members of the community to come to us asking us to remove that tree.”

A staff report said removing healthy trees was inconsistent with its sustainability, environmental and urban forest policies.

The City of Melville’s 2017-2036 Urban Forest Strategic Plan says the city is working to achieve “optimal levels” of tree canopy cover with no net loss to the urban forest.

Mr Notarangelo said he was disappointed to hear the council blame residents for choosing to live in suburbs with a growing tree canopy.

“Hearing that response after 40 years of living here was extremely disappointing and shows a complete lack of empathy — we’re only asking for the tree to be replaced with something more suited to a residential street for the safety of all residents,” he said.

“We don’t know where to go from here.”