Be a post whore!

[DanaC]

Depends very much on a number of factors, including character of the planning authority and balance of benefits on individual applications.

We've knocked back a lot of applications for felling of trees under a TPO and you'd be surprised at some of the ordinary trees that have such orders oin them. And that doesn;t include the ones covered by a woodland order which works on boundaries rather than specific trees.

If an application for something major, which could help with housing shortage or bring employment to the area, is likely to be made non-viable by TPOs then that sometimes swings it, but there have to be genuinely exceptional circcumstances.

[ZenGum]

There is a least one sequoia in Canberra, deliberately planted on the grounds of the Australian National University. About 20 metres from a library building. This is a tree which approaches 100 metres tall.

[Aliantha]

Some people are a bit dopey.

[monster]

Originally Posted by glatt

The British don't chop down trees willy nilly like we do. I saw some oak trees in Windsor older than the US.

Originally Posted by Sundae

Sigh. Sadly not true..

Well I guess it depends on your interpretation of "willy-nilly" but glatt is right. Brits are no way near as ax(e) happy as Americans. It may feel bad there, but come over here and you'll soon revise your opinions. But then it's really easy to grow trees here.....

[DanaC]

I've had a number of people come to me wanting help getting the right to fell trees in their gardens and so on. One in particular I remember very clearly, involved an elderly couple in a bungalow with a sycamore that was massive and dropping slippyshit al over their path. They were talking about possibly selling up[ and moving if the tree wasn't removed.

They were refused the right to fell the tree. It was there before thgeir bungalow. It was subject to a TPO (tree preservation order). They appealed the decision of the planning committee and lost the appeal.

At the same time I know of several large scale developments who've had to go back to the drawing board and come up with new designs in order to work around the clumps of trees on their site that are protected.

I also know of occasions when permission has been given to fell trees. In one instance the positioning of trees on the site made any serious use of the site very difficult. With the trees left as they were only 10 houses could have been built on the site. Without the trees there could be up to 15 dwellings. The applicant made a good case for the development not being viable with fewer than 15 dwellings, particularly as the houses in quesytion were so-called 'affordable housing' which we as a borough are desperately short of.

They were allowed to chop down some of the trees, on the understandimng they would plant new trees in other, less awkward parts of the site.

I also know of one in which a family with a severely disabled adult daughter wanted to fell a protected tree in order to build a separate little bungalow in their garden for their girl. We gave permission for that one, though it was a close call.

[ZenGum]

There are great variations across Australia.

In the southern states, clearing land which wasn't already cleared usually requires a (hard to get) permit and/or gets you in trouble. Unless you're felling old growth forests for woodchips for pulp for paper, and replanting with native but non-local monocultures, then it's OK. Most cities have rules protecting significant trees, and a tree has to be obviously dangerous to human life to get chopped.

The further north you go, the easier trees grow, and the less protection they have.

In northern New South Wales, where the hippies gather (remember that IotD about the woman who was besieged by a pig because she was too much of a hippie to deal with it? That area) there is STRONG protection. I recall a newspaper report of a developer who cut down 20 trees without permission. He was fined $50,000, and ordered to replant 20 trees of the same species in the same locations and put up a $1,000 bond per tree to guarantee the care and survival or replacement of those trees for 20 years.

Once you cross the border and move north in Queensland, property development is pretty much done by getting Saruman to send in the half-orcs for a recreational rampage.

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

Once you cross the border and move north in Queensland, property development is pretty much done by getting Saruman to send in the half-orcs for a recreational rampage.

That'll teach me to drink coffee whilst reading the Cellar.

[Aliantha]

That's in the urban areas Zen. In rural areas, farmers are encouraged to replant in return for carbon credit, which has been going on for years now. I'm not sure if that's in place in other states, but I suspect most states have similar programs.

I am sick of the clear felling in new estates, but since they put the houses so close together, it really doesn't leave much room for large growth trees anyway.

I've noticed plenty of clear felling in urban areas around Melb and Sydney too though. I don't think the problem is isolated to Qld.

[DanaC]

'S funny I never used to notice before, but do now, often in supermarkets or large industrial estates there will be odd trees that have been left in place and built around. You'll have a carpark all perfect and smooth except for a round patch where a big old tree stands.

[ZenGum]

I should add that my information about Queensland is around a decade old.

[glatt]

OK. You have rented a car in England. You know enough to drive on the left, so you are in the proper lane. You come to this exact scene. What do you do?

(Hint: I did the wrong thing. Extra bonus points if you guess what I did.)

[Sundae]

I'm sensing this is a trick question, as that's looks obvious. But then that might be because I am an British driver.
So as not to spoil it for anyone else wanting to answer:
Pull up to the Give Way sign and wait for a gap in the traffic before turning left.

[glatt]

Yeah. The guy behind me thought it was obvious too. He waited for about ten seconds of me stopping at the red light with no cars coming before he honked at me.

I knew I couldn't go straight, because I saw the bit about buses and taxis only, but I thought the red light applied to me as I was turning left. And I understood that England doesn't have left turn on red, so I had to wait for the light to change before I could turn, even though no cars were coming.

That was my worst mistake in two days of driving. I'd say I did pretty well. (Of course I may still get a speed ticket in the mail. So many speed cameras on the M25.)

Picture was taken just in front of our hotel in Canterbury.

[Lamplighter]

I thought maybe you tried to park between the plants.

[infinite monkey]

The price of chewing gum fell over night, and green trees have been happier than egg-laying geese.