Community & Business
11 March, 2025
Call to remove dangerous trees
AROUND 40 residents wanting to remove dangerously tall trees in their street have put their case to Tablelands Regional Council and it appears their concerns have been taken seriously.
Residents of Mountain View Drive, Atherton, want a number of cadaghi trees planted along the verge to be removed, saying they pose a risk to electricity supply, a risk to their property, and are a driver hazard.
A group spokesman told the council the trees, that can grow as high as 30m, are planted around a 90-degree corner on the road, with branches hanging down to 2.9m off the road.
They are currently around 27m high, twice as high as the power lines that feed electricity to the homes in the area, which has created problems in the past, costing residents thousands of dollars.
The spokesman explained to the council how dangerous the trees were to motorists, bike riders, and pedestrians.
“A huge problem with these trees is the substantial amount of twigs and limbs they unpredictably drop in the drier months,” he said.
“Large limbs have unexpectedly fallen in the past and luckily no one has been hurt – yet.
“Pedestrians, cyclists and motorists are at enormous risk, not just from the threat of falling branches, but there are presently many low branches hanging only 2.9m above the road. (The legal height for trucks in Queensland is 4.3m).
“This road is also a school bus route. Higher vehicles such as buses and trucks are forced into the wrong lane to avoid low branches, and on the right-angled corner, this is a potential calamity.”
The spokesman also cited the risk to electrical infrastructure as another major reason to remove the trees, which are regarded as an environmental weed in South-east Queensland and as a potential environmental weed in New South Wales.
“The power system in Mountain View Drive consists of 22,000-volt lines which overtop the 240-volt lines that service our properties,” he said.
“The cadaghi trees run alongside and overhang this system. In September 2023, a tree fell over the power lines which pushed one of the high-voltage lines onto one of the three phases of the low-voltage lines.
“This caused immediate catastrophic damage to many residents’ electrical equipment. From records we have gathered, that incident caused over $42,000 worth of damage for which, under legislation, Ergon is not responsible.
“Some residents could not claim insurance as their high excesses precluded them from claiming.
“Now every time we have a storm or impending cyclone, locals become very worried as to what could happen if a limb or tree fell on the lines again.”
In January this year, after a windstorm, a small branch fell over the line and Ergon had to be alerted to remove it before it contacted one of the 240-volt phases, he said.
“In last year’s Cyclone Jasper event, our electrician rang us and other locals, warning us to turn off our power completely just in case one of these trees fell,” the spokesman said.
“This meant even though power was available, it was his opinion that we were putting our electrical equipment at risk had we stayed connected.”
The residents also warned council that the trees were damaging public infrastructure such as the concrete kerbing where the roots of the trees were breaking through.
They also showed images of the massive amount of leaves and twigs that pile up against neighbouring fences and in house gutters and have to be constantly removed.
“The TRC vacuum truck has to continually sweep this section of the road. This is a never-ending expense to the council and ratepayers, as is trimming these trees to Ergon,” the spokesman said.
Residents had raised the issue with council in February last year but after Ergon advised council officers that no action was required, the matter was not progressed further.
“We really wanted the issue of the danger these trees presented addressed, not just the powerline issue, as the higher limbs and very low branches are outside Ergon’s responsibility,” the spokesman said.
After intervention by Member for Hill Shane Knuth, Ergon trimmed the trees to meet its requirements.
“Ergon have done what they are required to do and now it is up to council to deal with the tree problem as these trees are on a council footpath.”
After the presentation, council voted to investigate the issue and report back to the April meeting with estimates to remove the trees, and also to undertake a review of its policy position in relation to trees on road reserves in urban areas.
