February 4, 2016
Councillor Damien Tessmann has admitted the removal of the trees in the Glendon Street car park in Kingaroy had met with a “mixed reaction” from the public.
Cr Tessmann was updating Wednesday’s South Burnett Council meeting about the progress of the Glendon St upgrade.
He said sewage mains had been replaced and work was underway to replace water mains in the area.
“Local businesses have been advised of when water outages will occur to enable them to plan accordingly. An important point to make is that these mains are in excess of 70 years old, so their planned replacement is a far better option than simply waiting for them to fall apart.
“The trees have been removed which has had mixed reactions however it’s important to note that they will be replaced by varieties that will not have the same impact on cars that the old trees were having.
“Access into the car park will be altered while work begins on the Kingaroy St side of the job with two-way traffic being allowed to operate from the Alford St side.”
The trees that were removed from the car park were Cadaghi (or Corymbia torelliana).
Although native to Australia, they only grow naturally in rainforest and rainforest margins in far north Queensland. Elsewhere, they have become an environmental weed.
According to the Brisbane City Council website: “(Cadaghi) is becoming a serious weed in Queensland, where native bees collect its resin-coated seeds and spread it into eucalypt forests all over south-eastern Queensland. This species has a very dense canopy of large leaves that is well-suited to the rainforests of northern Queensland. When growing in open woodlands, outside its native range, it creates a heavy shade over the native understorey plants and prevents them from growing. It therefore has a significant potential to modify the diversity and structure of the native forests in sub-tropical Australia.”
Seeds are spread by wind, water, native bees, and in dumped garden waste.
