The removal of 47 trees from the new Bunnings site at Russell Vale has been justified by reason they were within a “proposed manoeuvring area” for a car park.
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Cutting down the trees, including grevilleas and eucalypts, was approved by Wollongong City Council along with other waivers of planning requirements.
Those gone include established trees near – some within 2m of – the Northern Stars Swim School.
Bunnings was also allowed a 4m setback from the road for its warehouse, rather than the 10m planning rules require. And a requirement for 4m of “dense landscaping” was also waived for the Bellambi Rd side of the site.
A council spokeswoman denied there was a separate policy for large developers, saying requests were assessed “on merit”.
“The removal of the trees adjacent to the swim school are within the proposed manoeuvring area of the future carpark, which will also service the swim school,” she said.
“[The] developer is required to provide for compensatory plantings for the trees that have been removed as a result of the development.”
The setback waiver was because there was a “semi-open area” near the Bunnings nursery, while the landscaping letoff was “due to traffic sightlines”, the spokeswoman said.
