October 20, 2013
Greens spokesman – and Brooklands resident – Grant Newson has launched a petition in a bid to stop the South Burnett Regional Council removing an avenue of camphor laurel trees as part of its streetscaping revamp of the Nanango CBD.
The trees, which line Henry Street (the D’Aguilar Highway) near the bowling club, have been earmarked by council to be replaced with an avenue of deciduous trees planted to form a southern entrance to the town that will change colour with the seasons.
At a meeting in August where the plans for the upgrade were unveiled, Mayor Wayne Kratzmann admitted the proposal to remove the camphor laurels may be contentious.
southburnett.com.au understands they are causing damage to underground infrastructure.
Mr Newson, who stood for The Greens for the State seat of Nanango and the Federal seat of Maranoa, said he believed the trees would be removed before Christmas.
“This is 100 per cent a local Council-related issue. The only part Main Roads has in this is to receive a Road Corridor Permit application for when works are proposed to be carried out – just to ensure flow of traffic,” he said.
Mr Newson has started his petition on Change.org
By 7:30pm on Sunday (October 20), it had received 40 signatures.
Camphor laurels – which are native to Asia – are a declared Class 3 pest plant in Queensland. Class 3 plants cannot be sold and their removal is recommended. Landholders can be required to remove Class 3 plants if they live next to environmentally significant areas such as national parks or reserves.
- Related article: Meet The Future Face Of Nanango
UPDATE December 9: A copy of the petition was lodged at the Nanango offices of the South Burnett Regional Council on December 6.
