Following on from his attendance with Mayor Innes to the recent Tuross Head Progress Association meeting Councillor Mayne heard first hand that the community present at the meeting did NOT want the "option" of removing a perfectly healthy tree from the Plantation garden precinct simply because it wasn't originally planted by Hector McWiliam and therefore, being a lowly blow in was now being considered for "optional removal" to "reinstate the integrity of the original plantation" as shown in the Draft Plan below
Councillor Mayne ventured out to visit the location and see the tree for himself and has now posted on his Community Voice Eurobodalla Facebook Page: "Save the Miracle Tree!" A self-seeded Lone Pine has grown up among the rocks at the Tuross Memorial Gardens. A magnificent symbol of new life on the Eurobodalla - South Coast NSW The Tuross Head Progress Association want the "Miracle Tree" to remain. New life, indeed a "miracle", are always worth celebrating. Wonderful to be hearing the community voice on this matter in an effort to save the tree. "Save the Miracle Tree" I say.
Above: Councillor Mayne at the "optionally" condemned tree - "Save the Miracle Tree I say."
NOTE: Submissions close on Monday 6 March 2017. Tuross Head residents (an anyone who thinks the tree should be saved) are invited to end a submission to Council by email to council@esc.nsw.gov.auuse or via the online feedback form or write a letter to the General Manager, Eurobodalla Shire Council, PO Box 99 Moruya 2537. Editors Note: A glaring double standard exists directly opposite the Plantation Point Memorial Gardens where Council have deemed a block of land that was dedicated to the public as a public reserve would now be better used if they sold it and recovered the money. They claim that Tuross Head has the highest amount of public reserve per capita of all the Shire towns and that rationalization justifies the sale of an under-used reserve. The Tuross Head Progress Association wrote a scathing submission denouncing the Council's decision however it fell on deaf and indifferent ears and the intention is to go ahead with the sale once a resurvey is undertaken and formalised. The Tuross Head community will NOT allow this sale to proceed as it reeks of the same decisiveness that they also attempted to put in place when they sought to reclassify the Kyla Grazing lots and sell them off. Watch this space.
Above: the block that was once reserve as required to be set aside by subdivision now to be sold because Council doesn't want to maintain it. The neighbour to the left will have a house butting right up against their property as the size of the lot is only 600m2 - and as for blocking the view and aspect that they paid premium dollars for when they first bought this land - Council don't give a sh*t and simpy say that there are no guarantees of ever keeping a view if you live next door to a reserve - obviously that is right when Council sells the reserve without any consultation. The neigbours have written to Council many times over this matter and have received NO response - none. So here they are wanting to kill a tree because it grew up in the wrong spot and they want to take back public space because "we already have too much compared to other areas of the shire". The community will not accept this - one bit and preparation for solid confrontation is building to make this a very public campaign if it doesn't get nipped in the bud ASAP.
