topic Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree in Community Spirit

Home destroyed by a saved tree

grandmoon — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 03:46:09 GMT

A TREE that residents wanted removed - but a council arborist wanted heritage listed - has smashed into a Sydney house, narrowly missing the owners who now find themselves homeless.

The 27m-high Norfolk Island pine came down in wild weather at Allambie Heights on the weekend, crashing through the roof near the bedroom of Rock and Kendall Davis-Bogan. The couple are furious Warringah Council was warned the tree was unstable but refused a request by their neighbour on whos property it was growing, to cut it down less than two years ago.

"Through no fault of ours, or our neighbours, this tree has smashed our house and destroyed our lives," Mrs Davis-Bogan told the Manly Daily yesterday.

Such is the damage the house might have to be demolished. When their neighbour wrote to the council in June 2011, asking for permission to remove the tree, he stated it was growing in just 50cm of soil and did not have deep roots.

But the council rejected the request, ruling it should be heritage listed.

A council spokesperson said the inspection was undertaken 18 months ago and "tree conditions can change over time".

ee was unstable but refused a request by their neighbour, on whose property it was

Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree

happyroo_bunji — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 04:06:07 GMT

I had to laugh at the home owners names Rock and Kendall Davis-Bogan.

Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree

the_hawk* — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 04:29:03 GMT

Some times its easier for the tree to just die and then remove the dead tree, or deal with it when its still small and no one is interested in it

Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree

j*oono — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 06:56:04 GMT

Their insurance company should go after the council for compensation.

We had the opposite problem here a couple of years ago. A Thornlie man sat in the tree on the verge of his house because the council wanted to remove it for safety reasons. I often wondered how he would feel if the tree came down and killed someone when it had already been declared unsafe.

Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree

topsidesoul — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 09:43:38 GMT

Happened her, a tree wnet through a cars windscreen that was deemed safe and killed a young lady.

We all like them, just not on the fence line, next to a house.

My houses concrete is destroyed by a previous neighbours trees root system that is still under the block in the form of suckers.

They pope up anywhere they find water and I would need to call in a digger for the front and back yard to dig it all up to get them.

The other moron neighbour will not cut their tree apart from over their own roof and it gets in the sewer line and blocks it once a year at my expense.

If you want a tree, cut the thing and keep it safe so others do not get effected by your laziness.

The signifcant tree rule is a stupid idea.

Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree

i-need-a-martini — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:09:35 GMT

Their insurance company should go after the council for compensation.

The poor couple let their insurance lapse. They've lost the house from the sounds of things and much of their damaged contents.:-(

Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree

j*oono — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:41:04 GMT

That's extremely sad, Martini. If they couldn't afford their insurance then they can hardly afford a lawyer to fight the council.

Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree

cherples — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:56:16 GMT

If you want a tree, cut the thing and keep it safe so others do not get effected by your laziness.

The signifcant tree rule is a stupid idea.

Nothing wrong with saving significant trees. It's when council officers don't know enough to judge trees that problems are caused. Trees have a natural life span and those that shed limbs, such as many eucalypts, have shallow roots or just grow too large should not be left to grow wild in urban areas.

Do you think there is any chance of the property owner's insurance being liable under public liability?

Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree

adingotookmybacon — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 11:02:01 GMT

if the council forbade them to chop it down they should foot the bill.

Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree

toon_town_nutter — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 11:06:09 GMT

That's extremely sad, Martini. If they couldn't afford their insurance then they can hardly afford a lawyer to fight the council.

No win no pay? Could be a high profile case too as an extra incentive.

Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree

not_an_eloi — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:40:08 GMT

perhaps abbott-the-opportunist will press-manage 'imself into the picture.

Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree

adingotookmybacon — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 13:14:59 GMT

tony lifting the tree alone...tony rebuilding the house (can imagine him holding a brick and a trowel) LOL

why does chuck norris come to my mind? ?:| :^O

Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree

icyfroth — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 13:18:08 GMT

erm...when did Mr Abbot enter stage right?

Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree

not_an_eloi — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 13:27:05 GMT

warringah's abbott's patch,

a recent poll found that one in four Australians thought Tony Abbott would be well cast as the villain in a James Bond film, a lay down mizere up for the part of dr. no

B-)

Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree

adingotookmybacon — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 13:30:56 GMT

just glue some hair on him and stick him in a cage with chimps, no one will notice.

and they won't get him out as they wouldn't be able to tell which one was him....

Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree

*mrswormwood* — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 23:36:57 GMT

If they have no insurance, wouldn't they sue the neighbour's insurance company who would then sue the council.

The tree was in the neighbour's yard, wasn't it?

Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree

punch*drunk — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 23:44:53 GMT

A friend of mine had a similar thing happen. They tried to have several trees removed when they built, they had a report stating that the trees were dying due to lack of water since the road and drains had been put in. The neighbors complained and they were restricted to only removing what was completely necessary to build the house.

First storm happened, 5 trees dropped. Minor damage to my friends house, a neighboring fence ruined and one narrowly missed the neighbors house. Apparently neighbor was furious at having to make claim for fence (and pay excess) on his own insurance, yet he had signed the petition to stop them being remove. Sometimes people go a bit overboard when it comes to saving trees, especially in built up areas.

Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree

syrupsmummy — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:21:30 GMT

This thread makes me worried.

I have a Norfolk Island pine in our backyard which council rejected our application to remove it. The reason was it's a prominent tree. It's so tall i don't know how tall.It will crash one of 4 houses whichever direction it falls.

Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree

not_an_eloi — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:46:56 GMT

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/northern-beaches/tree-fall-prompts-action-from-warringah-council/story-fngr8hax-1226588214160

warringah council refused to give any assistance whatsoever, when my mate at newport 'ad the same thing 'appen, to 'im.

massive gum tree, that he'd tried twice to get permission to remove, fell on the house and shifted it on its piers, demolished the front two rooms (would 'ave been in that front room at that same time any other day).

Re: Home destroyed by a saved tree

cherples — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 01:17:09 GMT

This thread makes me worried.

I have a Norfolk Island pine in our backyard which council rejected our application to remove it. The reason was it's a prominent tree. It's so tall i don't know how tall.It will crash one of 4 houses whichever direction it falls.

Norfolk pines were very popular for a while but they grow very tall and need to be replaced. In some places I saw every second tree removed for new ones and when the new ones grew the other very tall ones were removed and replaced.

In other areas they grew so tall they caused trouble and were all removed rather than replanting. Norfolk pines should not be heritage listed or protected unless they are going to be properly managed/replaced as necessary.