Tweed mayor Katie Milne has appealed to the community to help catch vandals who cut down trees in two areas of the shire and set fire to a new riverside planting recently.
‘Council is committed to going all out to try to find the offenders and we’d like to call on the community to assist us with this process – someone must have heard the chainsaws,’ Cr Milne said.
Vandals used a chainsaw to cut down two well-established Weeping Lilli Pillis (Waterhousias) at Col Wiley Park, near Byangum Bridge on the evening of Friday, November 18. They condemned a third by cutting about 75 per cent through its trunk, forcing it to be removed by the council.
‘These trees were five-metres high, with diameters 20 to 30 centimetres,’ she said.
Just a few days later, council staff working to stabilise the riverbank adjacent to Tweed Valley Way, near Bartletts Road, Tumbulgum, discovered vandals had cut down about 20 river mangroves (Aegiceras corniculatum) and set fire to a new riverside planting of Lomandra in the same area.
Tweed Shire Council has reported the clearing of the mangroves to the Fisheries Department for further action, as all marine vegetation is protected under the Fisheries Management Act 1994.
The Lomandra planting, undertaken to complement the rock revetment stabilisation work and planted through jute matting, will need to be re-done adding an extra $1,500 to the cost of the job.
All three acts of vandalism have been described by the council as ‘senseless’, as there will be no benefit to anyone from the destruction.
The council will grind back the stumps left at Col Willey Park and replace the trees as soon as it can, but it will take years for them to reach a similar height to the ones cut down.
The damage on the Tweed River bank, near the truck layby area, is ‘more insidious’, according to acting engineering director Danny Rose.
‘The bank where these mangroves have been cut down is undercut due to bank erosion and the loss of these trees will only accelerate the erosion,’ Mr Rose said.
‘This senseless vandalism is really disappointing because we are currently undertaking river revetment works along Tweed Valley Way to stop the Tweed River further eroding the bank towards the road.
‘The area where the mangroves have been cleared would not provide easy access to the river anyway, so we are at a loss to understand why someone would do this,’ Mr Rose said.
Mangroves and terrestrial riparian vegetation help protect the riverbank from eroding as well as provide habitat for fish, crabs, reptiles and birds and contribute leaf litter to the nutrient cycle.
‘Trees are not just for amenity, they provide important habitat and act as a buffer to erosion. Riverbank vegetation has a vital role to play along Tweed Valley Way in preventing erosion of this major road, which is costing council millions in revetment works,’ Cr Milne said.
’We need the community to understand the significance and get on board to provide information to help us catch vegetation vandals.’
Anyone with information is asked to contact Tweed Shire Council on (02) 6670 2400 or email [email protected]
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