Worth watching this case if you can. I always have questioned the rationale behind these rules, 3m or closer to buildings or fences means do what you like but this one is 3.5m away.
The Hornsby Advocate | Hornsby Local News Quote:
Tree law a tall order
Danielle Long
18Jun08
A BEROWRA family's bid to remove a massive blue gum about 3.5m from their house has prompted a review of Hornsby Council's tree preservation laws.
Under council regulations residents can remove a tree within 3m of their house without permission.
However if the tree is more than 3m away from the residence a council application must be lodged.
Renai Larkin's application to remove the 28m-high tree from the front yard of her Berowra home in Lonsdale Ave went before the council last week. The blue gum is 3.5m from her house.
The mother of two boys, Harrison, 4, and Hugh, 16 months, told the council her children could not play in the front yard because of regular falling branches.
"Our youngest son has epilepsy," Mrs Larkin said. "With his current medical condition and even without a neurological condition we cannot afford a branch to strike his head.
"We can't allow either of our sons to play in the front yard as we don't trust the tree.
"Even our immediate neighbours have complained about branches dropping from the tree.
"It's an adolescent tree and it still has a lot of time to grow."
Council staff had recommended Mrs Larkin's application be refused because the tree was assessed as "stable, healthy and of good form and vigour, making a significant contribution to the streetscape".
But councillors unanimously voted to defer the application to allow Mrs Larkin to obtain an arborist's report.
They also asked for a memo to be prepared by the council's environment division explaining the rationale behind the regulation's 3m exemption limit.
Cr Nan Horne said the 3m rule should be redressed.
"Just because a tree is 3m from a home it doesn't mean that its branches or its roots are," she said.
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