DARLINGTON: In 2015 local residents petitioned the University of Sydney to find an alternative site for its proposed Engineering building and to save the eucalypt grove on Shepherd Street. In 2018 premises were leased off the campus to meet the purposes of the new building and it was hoped the trees were safe.
On November 28 the University hosted a community briefing at the Services Building (G12) on Codrington Street at which members of local group, Friends of Darlington’s Eucalypt Grove, expressed dismay. Spokesperson Peter Prineas said, “In adopting this very questionable approach the University is seeking to avoid an examination of the environmental impact of the project, and a proper consideration of the alternatives when it ought to be a leader and exemplar in environmental protection and enhancement.”
The Shepherd Street site (currently a car park) supports a fine grove of tallowwood trees important for its aesthetic values and the relief it offers in an over-developed precinct. It gives food and shelter to lorikeets, kookaburras, cockatoos, butcher birds, currawongs, koels, miners, wattle birds, magpies and ravens; also possums and flying foxes.
