As a long-held part of the South Lawson Park upgrade design plans, a small number of trees were removed this week on the north side of the site.
The six trees (plus one dead tree) were identified for removal in 2019, as part of the upgrade design, and were felled under the close supervision of an independent arborist to ensure the work was completed safely and without damage to other nearby trees.
The six living trees that were removed will be replaced with 15 new native trees. Once the upgrade work is completed, a total of 48 new native trees will have been placed across South Lawson Park, part of over 35,000 new plantings, with an emphasis on improving protection of the creek line, swamp and wet areas.
Blue Mountains Council CEO, Dr Rosemary Dillon said: "While we always look at every option to reduce the impact of our activities on the natural environment, in this case a small number of trees have had to be removed at South Lawson Park.
"Other locations were considered for the route of the shared path that would avoid the trees on the hill behind the old clubhouse, but there are significant and quite shallow underground sewer services running close by which made other path alignments unsuitable.
"We're also working to increase accessibility for people within a particularly steep part of the park, and this presents a range of challenges in regards to the angle of paths and where they need to be located.
"Necessary changes to ground levels as part of the upgrade earthworks would also effect the structural root zone of some of the removed trees, making them unsafe.
"An unhealthy gum tree was also removed from the nature play area as it was significantly leaning over this space being designed for children to gather.
"Removal of these trees was always part of the upgrade plans and was included in the Part 5 Environmental Approval for the project. While we always try to avoid the removal of trees, in this case, a mix of safety and practical concerns guided Council's hand.
"I'm also very pleased that this upgrade will provide so many more native plantings to enrich the park and will allow many more people from across the community to enjoy them."
For more information on the South Lawson Park upgrade project, and to stay up to date on the project, visit yoursay.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/lawson.
The park is closed from Friday, 4 November to 5pm on Monday, 7 November to allow the next stage of the new shared path to be completed safely and to ensure that dogs can be kept away from where pre-seal treatment will be applied along the path route. Thank you for your understanding and we apologise for any inconvenience as we complete this important upgrade project.
This project is funded under the Western Parkland City Liveability Program which is part of the Western Sydney City Deal. The Western Sydney City Deal is a partnership between the three levels of government overseen by the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, the Hon. Catherine King MP, the NSW Minister for Enterprise, Investment and Trade, the Hon. Alister Henskens SC MP, and the eight Mayors of the Western Parkland City.
