Nice to see paths built by Newcastle City Council don’t have to be straight.
Maybe there’s hope for the Lambton Park shared path.Perhaps the figs there won’t have to go after all. Home

•  Draft Laman Street Design Report – Stage One

Submission on Council’s Draft Laman Street Design Report stage 1

It will forever appall me that Newcastle City Council got away with the destruction of the Laman St trees. I will forever doubt the veracity of the evidence put forward for it and the motives behind the vandalism of the space.

Based on my involvement with the community consultation process to date I have no expectation that anything that the community suggests ill be taken into account. Nevertheless, I give you my thoughts on the redevelopment of Laman street.

The replacement trees should be Hill’s figs.

• They should be as large as possible. Putting in small trees will mean that it will be fifty years before the street looks beautiful again. It is not impossible to find mature fig trees. This is a valuable and valued space that has been destroyed utterly by council staff. It is not good enough to expect Newcastle people to wait decades before the cathedral arch is created from small trees. Just because trees have been grown for ten years doesn’t necessarily mean they will be the best for the project.

• the trees should be 18 in number ie the same number that were present before the present tree team started destroying them.
• the trees should be planted in the same positions they previously occupied
• the trees’ roots should be assured of enough room to grow so that the trees will be healthy, sturdy, beautiful and long-lived
• the trees should not be planted in vaults. This, like the trenching done over and over again in Laman Street, is outdated technology and cannot provide a healthy growing environment for large trees.
• training should be ensured on a regular and ongoing basis among tree staff in how to prune and otherwise manage trees of this species . I note that Council failed to mulch fig trees in Newcastle at the right time this year and it has been the norm to do ugly and obvious pruning of trees rather than ensuring that trees maintained their beautiful shape.

No encouragement should be given to the idea of exotic deciduous trees as Phil Hewett described in a presentation to Council in 2010.

• the excuse for such an appalling suggestion was that a source of supply of these trees was available. This shows how insensitive and unimaginative council can be.
• the replacement trees should provide food and shelter for urban fauna. The destruction of the Laman Street fig trees destroyed 2% of the foraging habitat of the grey-headed flying fox. This needs to be replaced.
• the reason for removing the fig trees was alleged but greatly overstated risk. Fig trees are much less likely to drop branches than liquidambars and indeed many other tree species.
• the replacement trees must be native, in keeping with the history of the street. The tendency to plant magnolias and crepe myrtles and Callery pears must be countered

The infrastructure should be vaulted to protect it from tree roots and to protect the trees from future council officers who may not have not kept up to date with how to manage urban trees.

• council staff need training in how to manage broken and blocked pipes and how to relocate electricity cables without tearing down $1million worth of trees against the wishes of the community. The Cooks River cable project is an example of bore-drilling underneath land to relocate infrastructure. This could have been done in Laman Street. The community will always be upset when trees are removed so this should be avoided in future by ensuring the engagement of talented staff who are independent learners.
• pipes can be relined without trenching. While council never admitted that infrastructure damage or a development proposal for the Art Gallery were the reasons for removing the trees, there is a risk of this elsewhere in Newcastle and the risk to future fig trees exists in Laman Street. Training in technology – that is widely known to lay people and therefore reasonably expected to be within the armamentarium of the council engineer – should be mandatory.
• unless the ability to care for the streetscape exists, Newcastle ratepayers will be spending millions of dollar in future on a fiasco like Council’s management of this issue.

The street should be pedestrianised.

• it is risky to allow a space shared between cars and pedestrians. The Hunter St Mall is a good example of this. Cars travel so slowly that they aren’t heard till the last minute and pedestrians can’t feel safe on the space.
• disabled access could be via the rear of all the buildings.

Care should be taken to ensure that cyclists and pedestrians are safe together by demarcating in some way an area that is reserved for pedestrians.

• there seem to be lots of rubber ridges appearing on footpaths and roads. Whatever you think these are accomplishing, believe me, they’re a trip hazard and they’ll make cyclists more likely to have accidents. Stop it.

Please avoid the ugly pavers NCC usually uses. Please ensure that the ground covering is pervious to minimise stormwater run-off, an increased problem since you destroyed the mature trees.

It is insensitive and disrespectful to have turned Laman Street into a glorified car park. Go to the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum, the Gallery of NSW, the Natural History Museum in Milan. There is very little if not NO parking. They cope.

There should be no encroachment of Laman Street into Civic Park or the Memorial Grove.

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This was taken by Ben Smee at the time if the apparently ‘practical’ implementation of the resolution to remove the trees.

Our submission contains four main points.

1. The replacement trees should be Hill’s Figs to be planted in the same locations.
   

2. To plant the full suite of Hill’s Figs prior to 2004. We understand this number to be at least 18.
   
3. Utility infrastructure in the vicinity should be placed in vaults rather than vaulting the tree roots – as per current best practice.

4. To collaborate with the community to design and establish a permanent memorial to recognise appropriately the former avenue of Hill’s Figs and the extended community campaign to save them.

It is regrettable that we find ourselves in the position of having to make this submission. This situation could have been avoided by using a more responsive and evidence-based and tree preservation approach to a significant part of Newcastle’s urban forest.

Replacement tree species.

The document on exhibition is vague; it does not provide detailed relevant detail on the proposed design. We would hope that the future plan would include these details.

We submit that the replacement trees should be Hill’s Figs.

The community have been told repeatedly that the only reason for the removal of the trees was that they were alleged to have created an unacceptable risk. It was said asserted that this was the basis for the use of section 88 of the Roads Act 1993 (NSW). Particular reference was made to defective roots, and we note that the proposal allows for uninhibited development of the roots of the new plantings.

The Supplementary Report Laman Street Design presented to Council on 3^rd April 2012 contains no suggestion that Hill’s Figs are unsuitable on arboricultural grounds and throughout the debate there has been no indication that Hill’s Figs are inherently unsuitable.

The report to Council of 20^th March 2012 refers to “the strong desire from the Design Workshop for the retention of a ‘Cathedral’ effect”. It is not clear that this can be properly achieved with any the alternative species listed therein.

The original Figs provided important fauna habitat. The eventual replication of such habitat should be considered when determining replacement species, and Hill’s Figs are the obvious answer.

Number of trees to be planted.

The growth of the trees should provide the same cathedral effect that characterised Laman Street until February 2012.We submit that all eighteen trees should be replaced and that trees should be planted in the same position as the trees that have been removed.

Council resolved in September 2008 to replace the trees removed after the Pasha Bulker storm and on 19^th July 2012 that the fourteen Fig remaining trees be removed and replaced as soon as practical. To replace is defined as ‘to put something back in a previous place or position’ in the Oxford dictionary.

We acknowledge that the resolutions can be superseded by a later decision, but consider that to do so would be a significant breach of faith.

We note that the Laman Street Design report presented to Council on 3^rd April 2012 says that the replacement trees have been specifically cultivated to reduce the well-known occasional problems surrounding Hill’s Figs such as branch inclusions – while wishing it to be noted that these were not present in the recently removed trees – and the vault systems for utilities and public utility relocations will ensure healthy root growth without the danger of roots being severed for public utility or other infrastructure work.

The reason given for the removal of the original trees was an alleged risk to the public. We are aware of nothing in the various reports to suggest that the replacement of all eighteen trees would present a greater risk than the proposed twelve and submit that there is no valid reason why all eighteen should not be replaced.

Placement of utility infrastructure in vaults.

We submit that the utility infrastructure rather than the replacement trees be placed in vaults.

We are advised that the containment of tree roots in vaults is not now regarded as best practice. We note also the intention to relocate a number of public utilities. Details on where the utilities are to be relocated are not disclosed in the Laman Street Design report.

The supplementary report to Council presented on 3^rd March 2012 says that the use of a vault to protect public utilities is not required and has not been considered. We presume that this is based on the premise that the roots be contained in vaults.

We believe that where practical the utilities be relocated at sufficient distance from the new trees to allow for the unencumbered expansion of their roots, and that any services that remain within range of the roots be placed in protective vaults.

It is essential that there be no restriction to the depth that tree roots can grow downwards into sand. If such restriction exists the health of the trees could be compromised and their ability to form a cathedral arch could be hindered.

Given that it will take fifty years for replacement trees to reach maturity, continuity of management needs to be ensured. It cannot be predicted with certainty that this will be the case. Adequate space for the roots to grow is necessary; adequate water and mineral elements would need to be assured over time and with changes in technical staff over time the long-term survival of trees constrained in such a way would have to be questionable. Allowing trees the freedom to root in native soil would be best.

Permanent memorial

The Heritas Heritage Study commissioned by Newcastle City Council recognised the significance of the Laman Street Hill’s figs from heritage, social and aesthetic points of view.

The community campaign to preserve Laman Street extended over two years. One measure of its importance was the petition to save the trees, signed by over 13000 people. Another was the media focus on the issue. Over 200 articles, editorials and letters were published by the Herald during the campaign.

We submit that a permanent memorial be placed in the street to acknowledge and celebrate the part played by the community during the campaign to save the trees and to celebrate the esteem with which this space has been held by residents.

Involving the community in the design of this memorial would be essential.

Future management of the trees

The replacement trees be should managed in a way that recognises their significant status. A tree preservation approach should be adopted, using up to date best practice.

We submit that the street should be pedestrianised.

The current footprint occupied by the street should be maintained. Any encroachment on Civic Park would require addressing the Plan of Management of Civic Park.

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Laman Street from Civic Park

The link to the report and background information is on this page http://www.newcastle.nsw.gov.au/council/community_consultation/public_exhibitions/public_exhibitions2/laman_street_design

If you’re overwhelmed by looking at it it’s quite short but if it makes it any easier these are the points that Save Our Figs have submitted:

1. The replacement trees should be Hill’s Figs to be planted in the same locations.
   

2. To plant the full suite of Hill’s Figs prior to 2004. We understand this number to be at least 18.
   
3. Utility infrastructure in the vicinity should be placed in vaults rather than vaulting the tree roots – as per current best practice.

4. To collaborate with the community to design and establish a permanent memorial to recognise appropriately the former avenue of Hill’s Figs and the extended community campaign to save them.

Remember, a submission can be as short as you like. One paragraph, one page, etc. It should be in your own words.

Send your comments to
The General Manager
The City of Newcastle
Laman Street Design
PO Box 489
NEWCASTLE NSW 2300or email: mail@ncc.nsw.gov.au by close of business Friday 25 May 2012.

Here’s hoping that in fifty years the street might look OK again.

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A Cooks Hill person is alleged to have had a meeting with Newcastle City Council’s Director of *cough* Liveable Cities  in which he said that the trees in Council Street were planned for the chop.

That’s reasonably predictable, I suppose. And the moronic thinking behind such an alleged plan is that the plumbing in the residences there have had to be fixed at Council’s expense.

I guess you don’t get staff who keep up with changes in anything much on our local council. Apparently they haven’t heard that tree roots don’t break pipes, they just get into pipes that are broken. And that you can reline said pipes to repair them.

It took ten seconds to find this link to trenchless pipe repair. Saving Our Trees has written a post on the same issue.

In the ten seconds it took me to find these links I also found a Bundaberg Council list of trees to avoid near pipes. How ironic – the liquidambar, brush box, magnolia and plane tree are all on there. Magnolias are all over Newcastle these days. Our glorious tree team chose liquidambars as the replacements for the Laman St figs – for the noble reason that they could easily get a  supply of them. Plane trees, on the other hand, are out of fashion , it seems, presumably as they give a small number of people asthma. Maybe that’s why there’s a rumoured plan afoot to remove all of Newcastle’s planes. There’ll be no large trees left soon.

And back to Council Street. It doesn’t help the trees that a fervently anti-fig tree Councillor owns a house in the street.

The elected Councillor could be gone in September. Anyone know when the current managers’ contracts are up for renewal?

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Before and after shots of the vandalism. Double click to enlarge.

Gems from this week – the work is being done by Advanced Arbor Services – the heroes from Laman Street. There was an NCC rep there who allegedly told onlookers the trees were being taken out because one of the trees’ limbs had killed a child – there’s big news we all missed – because it’s wrong; the trees had undergone a ‘big study by NCC’; the trees had die back because of too much or too little rain last year. Etc etc.

And of course this is an example of council managers wreaking havoc in a new way. Recall the toxic ‘community engagement’ review after Laman Street? It concluded that in ‘operational’ matters (you can all almost anything that) community consultation should be avoided.

Managers are on five year contracts. We must be a considerable way through the current lot’s agreements.

Bets on the future of this park – tuckeroos as replacements or let the park sit idle for a few years then sell it off.

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If this tree were in California would it be ‘monitored’ or cared for?
Imagine the opportunities squandered by Newcastle Council’s tree team in the last decade.
So much information about maintaining assets like these could have been learned. Instead the focus was on spinning the truth to get rid of them.

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Two mature figs in Gregson Park are fenced off and the ‘trees under investigation’ sign is displayed.

One fig has a hollow in it which in my ignorance I imagine frightens the average (if not very average) municipal arborist. The other tree looks fine to me. I must do some reading on trees with hollows. The fig birds were as noisy as they used to be in Laman Street.

What a shame Newcastle City Council doesn’t automatically upload arborist reports and warnings of tree removals on its web page. Maybe we’d all be much less inclined to suspect their motives. The Herald reported recently on a bus trip taken by our fearless councillors to see the trees that NCC is ?planning to remove.

I’m told that such briefings/inspection used to be announced on Council’s web page and that members of the public could go along to listen. Such announcements have disappeared – wonder if that was a (former GM) Lindy Hyam ‘reform’ – she was very keen to avoid engaging with the ‘vocal minority’ according to the ‘Sustainability Review’.

It seems disappointing that Council is threatening trees in a park, after years of saying that large trees ‘belong’ in parks. They’re not safe anywhere.

The park was given to the people of Newcastle by the AA company.

A link to the Strategic Plan of Management can be found on this page. Scroll down to the Gregson Park reference. I hope the recently threatened ‘masterplan’ isn’t going to be offensive. And please no more tuckeroos in any of the spaces where figs are Disappeared.  Home