Councillor Jenny McKinnon has voiced her disapproval of several trees being removed along Plumpton Road. Photo: Jenny McKinnon.
Wagga Wagga City Councillor Jenny McKinnon has criticised the council over the removal of trees on Plumpton Road.
Wagga Wagga City Council (WWCC) was given a grant by the NSW Government to widen the road from two lanes to four to make the stretch of road safer for travellers.
Under plans approved by WWCC and the State Government, trees have been removed to make space for the extra lanes.
Cr McKinnon has slammed the decision, stating that trees have been sacrificed just to allow commuters to drive at 80 km/h instead of 60 km/h.
“My major concern is that the design for the road has basically taken motorist convenience to be the most important factor,” Cr McKinnon said.
“I agree it is really important, but it’s at the cost of these old-growth trees that we have so precious few of in our local government area.
“It comes at a time when we’ve got urban heating happening, and we need as much canopy cover as we can possibly get. Wagga needs to be increasing its tree cover, its canopy cover, not reducing it.”
Cr McKinnon said trees had been sacrificed so commuters could travel a few kilometres faster. Photo: Jenny McKinnon.
Cr McKinnon said she believed WWCC had overlooked its urban heating and canopy cover policies to deliver a plan that was focused more on convenience than delivering on council policy.
“I think that motorists coming from the new southern growth area could have dealt with some gentle curves in the road and kept it at 60 km/h,” she said.
“My understanding is that by doing this, we could have saved a lot of those trees, and all of that adds to the biodiversity of the area.
“Those trees have taken, you know, 100, 200, 300 years to get to the size they are. You cannot just plant a tree and think that it’s going to provide what those old trees are doing for us.
“Wagga Council has some policies that I think are fabulous, especially around sustainability, urban cooling, maintenance of trees, and increasing the number of trees.
“But, when it comes to this kind of development, the policies talk the talk, but in practice, council is not walking the walk.”
Ms McKinnon said she believed the chances of protecting the remaining trees on Plumpton Road were slim and that more consideration should be given to similar projects in the future.
“We’ve definitely lost charm and character along Plumpton Road,” she said.
“People who live in that area have contacted me, saying they are really upset about the loss of these trees.
“People are talking to me about the loss of beauty that they were able to see in those trees, and unfortunately, what we are getting with this road solution is a kind of sterility that is not associated with Wagga and that I find very disappointing.”
