From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 31 October

There are those comments which are so profoundly stupid it leaves you questioning everything – even the very existence of the universe!

THE comment attributed to Cr Des Hudson regarding the destruction of the 150-year-old Marri tree in Webster Street to allow for the building of a wrought iron fence, is one of the most preposterous comments I have heard, ever! To contend as justification the tree will die eventually, and therefore its early destruction is unimportant, seems to lack any serious-minded, considered, environmental deliberation. While both have their places, comparing an inanimate object with a glorious, living tree is a challenging notion.

Self-evidently every living thing will die eventually, but does it follow, ipso facto, we should, therefore, kill at will, regardless? One could extrapolate that argument in numerous directions.

The destruction of a perfectly healthy tree which may live for another 300 years is blatant environmental vandalism. For Cr Hudson, and those councillors who voted in a like manner, to use an established absolute as a defence argument is intellectually illogical and demonstrates a disturbing lack of vision and sense of history; not to mention an unhealthy dose of parochialism.

When first I arrived in Ballarat, a local accosted me accusingly over a published comment, “I’ve lived here all my life,” he said, as if that were something to be envied. In honesty, I retorted, “And it shows in your thinking!”

There are those moments when you might wonder, reasonably, if what the City of Ballarat’s environs has to offer is recognised by all. It is one of the prettiest regional cities in the world. Often, I have wondered, and with good cause when you consider the architecture lost to demolition, whether it was by sheer good luck or good management that so much has survived. The kerfuffle surrounding the Marri tree has provided the answer, resoundingly. Sheer bloody good luck!

To compound the felony, in March, 2019, the City of Ballarat released the Urban Forest Action Plan – a most admirable, comprehensive, and ambitious environmental document. Under the opening subtitle of VISION, it proffered:

“A greener, more vibrant connected Ballarat where trees are valued as a high priority and managed through an urban forest approach that increases canopy cover to maximise social, ecological and economic benefits.

Ballarat’s trees play an important role in the future liveability, resilience, and sustainability of our city. Through their main benefits such as shading, stormwater interception, and provision of habitat for wildlife, the hundreds of thousands of trees, and the associated vegetation across our urban area, form Ballarat’s Urban Forest.

The Urban Forest Action Plan brings together community aspirations and existing policies and strategies, in order to guide a new approach to protecting and advancing Ballarat’s urban forest.”

If the demise of the Marri tree is an indicator of the plan’s application and success, then the document was a gross waste of taxpayers’ money and a load of platitudinous bullshit!

The architect reconfigured the front area of the house design when I learned an established flowering gum would be removed to accommodate the paving design. Astonishingly, the City of Yarra granted permission for the healthy tree to be felled! There was no question: the tree was more important than the paving – however fancy!

Ownership of a magnificent tree is not a burden but a privilege, and one which should be taken seriously. The shade of a single tree provides welcome relief from the hot summer sun, but when that single tree is part of a small forest it creates a profound cooling effect. Every tree plays an important role in keeping our towns and cities cool.

It is possible to construct a wrought iron fence incorporating an established tree, and for the two to co-exist in perfect harmony, the one flattering the other. It requires minimal creative imagination and a willingness to save the Marri tree. We are not splitting the atom!

Roland can be heard with Brett Macdonald each Monday morning at 10.30am radio 3BA and contacted via [email protected].