NEIGHBOURS are not giving up on a desperately-ill pin oak in Borrodell Drive.
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The tree is flagged for removal as part of an amended development application by Martin Gleeson Pty Ltd, which has been recommended for approval by Orange City Council staff, although they have placed a number of conditions on the pending approval.
The issue will be discussed at Tuesday night's council meeting with five submissions from neighbours at odds with OCC staff's assessment it is all but dead, and asking for more effort to be put into saving the tree.
The tree is estimated to be 80 years old and according to the neighbours, up until recent years, in a healthy condition.
In 2007 council approved an application to develop 5 Borrodell Drive into nine lots although it denied permission to remove the tree which would have been on the proposed lot 1.
Mr Gleeson is now seeking to have that overturned considering the tree's poor health, attributed to the drought. In his application Mr Gleeson says the tree is now dangerous with the potential to drop limbs.
Council staff, in a report to accompany the amendment, agree the health of the tree "is such that it cannot be saved and should be removed".
However, residents disagree and are also asking for an investigation into why the tree has deteriorated, with a view to protecting other mature trees in neighbouring properties.
"We request that prior to any tree removal of the subject oak tree further investigation and testing be conducted by independent specialists to determine other possible causes of death, such as disease or introduced chemicals," one submission states while several believe the tree is still showing signs it could be saved.
"I consider that it should be given considerably more time to recover and further examined by the council to see if it can be saved," it says.
A nearby bore has also been suggested as a reason for the tree's deterioration however the property owner who commissioned it also put in a submission saying it is around 100m away, and is yet to be tapped.
If councillors approve the amendment, one of the conditions recommended by staff is that the pin oak be replaced by two of the same species.
The replacement trees must be in 500 litre container size at planting and must be planted at the front of the site proposed as lot 1. The saplings must have a trunk height of greater than 5m and a trunk caliper of 80mm or greater.
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