The City of Stirling will re-think its current practice of leaving vandalised trees for dead for up to two years so it can gather evidence. The proposal from deputy mayor Suzanne Migdale highlighted a Dianella verge tree across the road from a primary school which was identified as being poisoned. The city’s report found the tree was poisoned through 16 drill holes at its base in early 2023.
The 24m tall tree was about 40 years old with a Helliwell valuation of $30,700. As part of its current tree policy, the city fenced off the gum tree and erected signs informing the community that it had been vandalised and asking for people to come forward with any information. However, the perpetrator has not yet been identified.
Cr Migdale said the signs and non-removal of the tree was a “collective punishment” for the community while being a safety risk for students travelling to and from school. “The problem being when there isn’t enough evidence to know who killed the tree, it’s collective punishment; everybody on the street pays,” she said. “It is an extremely large tree that is completely dead and has been fenced off for two years, dropping bark on children walking to their primary school.
“We could have had by now a beautiful tree replanted, two years old and actively starting to add to our canopy. “We should still investigate and prosecute, there is no question about that. But in this instance this is an extremely large and dangerous dead tree.
” Her proposal.