Wollongong City Council wants to get tough on tree vandals at Woonona Beach.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
There have been 22 incidents of poisoning, pruning and removal of seedlings, shrubs and trees within the dunes since 2014.
Councillors will vote at Monday’s council meeting whether to support the installation of a 1.8 metre by 1.2 metre tree vandalism sign and will investigate installing covert surveillance cameras to deter would-be vandals.
If the vandalism continues barriers such as bunting, sail or shade cloth or a fence could be installed too.
In July, council received a report that two two-metre tall Banksia trees along the access way to the surf club were poisoned and other tree branches were pruned. Most recently, a Woonona resident reported the pruning of 12 branches from wattle trees about 40 metres south of the surf club in October.
Council staff have tried to deter vandals by distributing educational flyers, installing information and deterrence signs and had meetings with the community group members.
Now they have had enough.
Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said it was “disappointing” vandals continued to destroy vegetation.
“There has been $7,700 worth of damage and the council can not continue to put in resources to establish the dune if the vandalism continues,” he said.
“The council has had a continual focus on growing the vegetation at the dune since 2014. The work to stabilise the dune has to be done.”
The council has been carrying out dune management at Woonona since 2014 which included removing vegetation and replanting low growing-species in bare areas to stabilise the sand. Bush regeneration contractors work at the site to remove weeds and to manage the growth.
Cr Bradbery said during a big storm, sand could get blown off the beach and damage the houses, buildings, road and footpaths located next to the beach.
“The policy is not about growing large plants in isolation,” he said. “It is about stabilising the dune and protecting the built-up assets at the edge of the beach,” he said.
There were no reports of vandalism at the site before 2014. They have sighted vandalism to 28 mature trees and uprooting of more than 1,100 seedlings, planted by council contractors, since 2014.
“Woonona Beach is one of the most prolific sites for vegetation vandalism in the Local Government Area,” the council report states.
Cr Bradbery said in the past, certain species of plant had gotten out of control and should have been managed better but now the appropriate low-lying shrubs had been planted to help maintain the beach.
“Some individuals have taken it upon themselves to be vigilantes in managing the beach and have possibly delayed the revegetation process,” he said.
“I hope they co-operate with council to get the work done.”
Council staff have, since July, done a letterbox drop to local residents and community groups encourage them to report incidents.