Safety shepherd

LAST week Botanic Ridge residents were invited to a meeting about “security”. Apparently, about 50 people turned up, only to be surprised to find Councillor Ablett had also arrived, although nobody knew he was to be there. Councillor Ablett was not introduced at the meeting but quite unexpectedly stood up to say he’d had a look at our estate and advised that trees were likely to be a safety problem. He further went on to
kindly add he would be raising the future of our trees at a council meeting.
A number of residents in Settlers Run are quite bemused by the councillor’s unheralded visit and his remarks. Many built homes at Settlers Run because of the beautiful treed surrounds, both in parks and
along grass verges. We presume that during planning the developer and council agreed that tree planting was an essential requirement, and thousands of trees have been planted as a result.
A small percentage of these plantings will be lost due to weather and disease. We are not aware that any injury or damage has been caused by trees at Settlers Run. Any suggestion that these trees should now be removed, and possibly replaced by shrubs would be a complete waste of ratepayers’ money, ruin the streetscape, and be illogical as there is no evidence the trees are a problem, except to a few residents who wish to park their vehicles on the nature strip. Hence, Councillor Ablett’s contribution to our meeting was unlooked for and is but a solution looking for a problem. We note that the councillor is a candidate in the coming State Election.
Keith Horner,
Botanic Ridge.