Hyde Park figs face the chop
Three Hill’s Fig trees in Hyde Park were chopped down on Monday morning to ensure public safety.
“While these Hill’s Figs might appear to be healthy on the outside, beneath the surface they are severely hollowed out by disease and structurally unsound, so it’s important we remove them for safety reasons,” said City of Sydney arborist Karen Sweeney.
The arborist’s report found the trees were affected by as many as three different diseases, which had left them between 70-85 per cent decayed and at risk of collapse. According to the City of Sydney, the impact of the diseases has been exacerbated by poor drainage and construction of the railway underneath Hyde Park, which has resulted in poor soil conditions.
The removal of the trees was flagged in a 2006 report, which found that up to 230 trees in Hyde Park were diseased and needed to be removed and replaced over the next 15 years.
In September, the City announced it would be removing two Moreton Bay figs on Parramatta Road, near Victoria Park, which had likewise decayed to a point where they presented a threat to the safety of passers-by.
During the term of the previous Council in 2004, local government representatives, including Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and Greens councillor Chris Harris, led a campaign to prevent the removal of five condemned Moreton Bay figs in the Domain, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Botanic Gardens Trust. The councillors argued that alternative solutions existed, but this argument was rejected by then-NSW Environment Minister Bob Debus.
