There is currently an onslaught against trees, as huge infrastructure projects like the South East Light Rail and WestConnex begin preparation for large-scale construction. In the east, along Anzac Parade, hundreds of trees are being removed to make way for the light rail which has changed its placement to meet the demands of Randwick Racecourse. A decision has been made to sacrifice a boulevard of hundred-year-old, historical figs to allow the expansion of bars, restaurants and gambling.
In the south-west we have the gigantic WestConnex tollways which will take slices of Sydney Park and remove up to 370 trees. At Barangaroo the magnificent arcade of figs has been cut down, and in developments across Alexandria trees are vanishing rapidly, as many as 57 trees will go from Ashmore, more from the University of Sydney, and so it goes.
It seems there is little consideration for this essential ingredient of modern urban living, the city’s lungs, and it bodes ill for the future of the planned redevelopment of Waterloo. The area is currently rich in trees and healthy canopy, which is spread through residential streets and the housing estates, and an essential part of the area’s ambience. These trees, however, face a very critical future with the proposed development of a metro station at Waterloo and the redevelopment of the large housing estates.
We have seen the scorched earth policy FACS has used at the Glebe Affordable Housing Estate, where everything was bulldozed and left to stand desolate for years, and must fight to ensure that the green canopy is protected and that repeats of the Glebe and Anzac Parade experiences are prevented in Waterloo.
