Tree advocates and council election candidates are calling for the City of Melville to increase its penalties for damaging or removing trees.
Penalties for removing or damaging trees in the city currently include a $500 fine. Prosecution can also be sought in the Magistrates Court, where a penalty of up to $5000 can be imposed.
The city can also treat the removal or damage of a tree as a civil matter and seek compensation for the damage caused.
The City of Canning recently increased its fine for damaging trees from $250 to $1000, but even then Canning councillor Hardeep Singh said a $1000 penalty was “nothing” to people living in multimillion-dollar homes.
Esther Cole from the Melville Tree Canopy Advocates said a proposal to strengthen verge tree protections was put on hold by the Melville council in August.
She said verge trees were one of the few levers the council had full control of to make a difference to the city’s canopy coverage and fines for removing them should be significantly higher.
“Verge trees do not destroy significant views, they enhance them, and there is evidence in many riverside suburbs that trees and views coexist — Peppermint Grove comes to mind,” Ms Cole said.
“Streets lined with trees are shown to be worth more, so losing a verge tree doesn’t just affect canopy, it affects the neighbours’ hip pocket.”
Applecross-Mt Pleasant ward Cr Clive Ross, who is seeking re-election, said while street trees were important, there needed to be a balance between increasing the city’s canopy coverage and protecting the rights of property owners.
He said prosecution and penalties were not the answer.
“The city must lead by example with proper planning that protects, encourages and plans for public open spaces and opportunities to create green corridors and pocket parks or green spaces on or within developments,” Cr Ross said.
“The city cannot mandate boundary-to-boundary development with 10m-high podium walls on boundaries which do not allow for any tree cover on development sites while transferring the burden of the inability to meet the tree cover target onto individual landowners together with provisions for prosecution and penalties.
“Planting saplings while ignoring the root cause of loss is a catch-up strategy that will never catch up.”
His election opponents said the city needed to review its penalties.
Surya Ambati said the city’s current penalties should be proportional to property values or replacement costs.
“The City of Canning’s increase from $250 to $1000 is a step in the right direction but as noted, $1000 may still be insignificant to wealthy property owners who view fines as the cost of doing business,” Mr Ambati said.
“The fact that someone would illegally remove a tree that was planted as part of the city’s urban forest program shows a concerning disregard for both environmental responsibility and rule of law. This tree removal represents theft of community property.”
Simon Barry said fines should cover the cost of replacing a tree and protecting it.
“Street trees are important for a healthy community, particularly one like the City of Melville that is seeing increasing housing density and population growth,” he said.
“Other local governments have shown us the policies that are needed to help achieve increased tree canopy and so now we simply need a majority of councillors that reflect community opinion and prioritise trees in decision-making.”
Current deputy mayor and Palmyra-Melville-Willagee candidate Karen Wheatland said urban canopy was one of the city’s greatest assets.
“Views are often used to sell high-value real estate, but that does not mean residents can dictate what happens on public land,” she said.
She said penalties had to be a real deterrent and would welcome if the city reviewed them.
“Other cities are already using AI and digital mapping to detect canopy changes,” she said.
“Smarter tools like that, along with stronger penalties, would give Melville a real edge in protecting our canopy.”
Cr Scott Green said he would like the minimum penalty for illegal verge tree removal increased to $5000.
