Tyrrell Street was the Newcastle street that allowed Newcastle people to see the future for Laman Street if the fig trees there are managed by Newcastle City Council the way it sees fit.
Posts Tagged ‘Tyrrell Street’
Is this the future? 31.12.2011
December 31, 2011Arborist quotes on casebooks 24.11.2011
November 24, 2011Re-reading old emails I found some references to what Newcastle City Council erroneously call a casebook – that’s the mega file of tree failures that takes no account of all the trees that haven’t failed. You can find this 14MB file on Council’s website: they’re very proud of it.
I wonder how many times it’s been presented to elected Councillors to keep them in a state of fear. Three arborists commented on it: here’s some of what they had to say: (more…)
Another reprieve 14.9.2011
September 14, 2011
Last night Council gave the fig trees a reprieve when they voted on independent assessment of their risk. (more…)
The Caravan of Courage 23.2.2011
February 23, 2011
This picture was taken a year ago today and is reproduced to celebrate the fact that the Caravan of Courage has been moved to grace another corner in Newcastle. (more…)
Recycling – old design ideas 22.1.2011
January 22, 2011
There are a few old Herald articles about Civic Park and Laman Street worth another look. These follow the progress of Civic Park redesign suggestions. (more…)
Epic fail in the Land and Environment Court 11.11.2010
November 11, 2010
The judgement of the Land and Environment court went against the community today. (more…)
Competing arborist reports & Phil’s fig 4.10.2010
October 4, 2010
I’ve said from the first day that I read council’s arborist report on Laman Street that a single report is inadequate. I’ve also said with irritating frequency that the term ‘independent’ when it comes to consultants needs replacing with some new term which incorporates who the consultant is working for. (more…)
You can smell the coal dust today, not just see it 2.10.2010
October 2, 2010
Years ago I had a friend who loved gliding and he convinced me to go on a joy flight. I only went once because it was claustrophobic and nauseating but what I did learn from it, apart from the fact that you can have all that space around you and still feel penned in, is that there are Weather Things called Inversions and I assume that’s what we have today. (more…)
Family Fun Day in Laman Street 29.8.2010
August 30, 2010
Someone lovely has hung signs on the Laman Street figs which I saw for the first time today. (more…)
The National Trust’s view – from Keith Parsons
August 26, 2010
The National Trust of Australia has a strong and long interest in the Laman Street avenue of Hill’s fig trees. We were the first conservation body to publicly recognise their significance in 1981, when we added them as a heritage item to the National Trust Register. Why, almost 30 years later are they still not listed in the heritage schedule of Council’s Newcastle Environmental Plan?
The process of public consultation, with the 2 charettes to which selected community members were invited, has been good, but they would be more aptly described as charades or a sham, if the plan put to Council last Tuesday is not subject to a period of public exhibition, so that everyone has the right to comment. It would constitute in our view, an abuse of due process.
The proposal to replace the trees with a single line of figs will probably create a canopy effect, but not the iconic, cathedral roof effect (already sadly and permanently lost in Tyrell Street) which the community wants retained and which is heritage significant. This can only be achieved with a row on both sides of the street. The single line proposal contravenes Council’s Heritage Policy, seemingly to achieve short-term and short-sighted savings.
We suggest Council considers Sydney City Council’s strategy to replace their much-loved central avenue of Hill’s Figs in Hyde Park using a sensitive, staggered process over about 4 years, rather than in one fell swoop. Council has received professional advice that the Laman St trees, with varying projected life-spans, need not be replaced at the same time and certainly not immediately.
The Trust requests (and we believe the community supports) a guarantee that there will not be an early morning demolition raid. We call on genuinely heritage –supportive councillors to propose a rescission motion to allow for a period of public comment.
Some of us with long memories still remember the dawn raid on the Moreton Bay fig trees in Birdwood Park in 1973, with protesters chaining themselves to trees in front of bulldozers.
Keith Parsons.
Chair, Hunter Regional Committee
