20160919 letter to minister to the environment letter to mi… · removal by energy companies'...
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AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS ACN No. 008 531 851 ABN 84 008 531 851
(National Office) email: [email protected] GPO Box 1646 Canberra ACT 2601
Telephone: (02) 6248 9970 Facsimile: (02) 6249 7337
FAO:MinisterfortheEnvironmentandMinisterforHeritageTheHon.MarkRaymondSpeakman,SCMP19September2016DearMinister,TheAustralianInstituteofLandscapeArchitectsisthepeakbodyrepresentingover800landscapearchitectsinNSWandover2500nationally.InreferencetotheSMHarticledatedSeptember18'The1000treesbeingassessedforpotentialremovalbyenergycompanies'andsignificanttreeloppingof100sofnativetreesinSydneystreets(seephotographbelow),AILANSWwritestorequestaproperprocessforthecumulativeimpactassessmentfortheremoval,orsignificantpruning,ofmaturewoodlandandstreettreesinourcities.Maturetreesareakeypartoururbangreeninfrastructureasset.Theyprovidesignificantcoolingandshadeforoururbanenvironments,theyimproveairqualityandarealsoavaluablevisualpresenceandnaturalbeauty.AILANSWappreciatesthatourongoingenergy,waterandinformationutilitiesarealsovitaltocitiesandtheremovalofvegetationthatcanaffectthatsupplyisanimportantfunctionofautilitycompany.However,webelievelargescaleremovalhasasignificantimpactonourcommunities,theirsenseofplaceandthereputationofourstateorganisations.Liketheprocessesadoptedbyotherinfrastructureorganisations,largescaleremovalshouldbeassessed,impactsmanagedandmitigationproposed.Insomecases,itmaybeeconomicallybeneficialinthelongruntorelocateservicesforexamplepowerlinescouldbeplacedundergroundratherthantheongoingseveringofmaturetrees.AILArecommendsthataproperprocessofassessmentofsignificanttreeremovalimpactshouldbeundertakenbytheutilitycompaniesandhopesthatyoucanhelppursuethisrequestwithinGovernment.Wewillbemorethanhappytomeettodiscusstheaboveorsupportyouinanywaywecan.Yourssincerely,
GarethCollinsNSWChapterPresidentAustralianInstituteofLandscapeArchitects
AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS
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