Blue Mountains Council.

[Brettstar6754]

As a lifelong resident of the Blue MOuntains I am and always have been amazed at the sheer stupidity of our Council in regard to and amongst other things, Tree management.
See the link below Please.

http://www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/sustainableliving/treemanagement

I have personally been refused permission to make small burnoffs at a Local observatory when I was the caretaker there and not once , several times. Almost All Sensible preparation could be deemed illegal.

I personally know a contractor who refused to clear an overgrown paddock as even that will breach Council regulations.

Recently I did get permission to remove some trees at a house I own but
That was difficult, expensive and time consuming. Permission was refused for one tree 2m away from the house.

Residents should be able to clear around their homes without fear of fines.

[Kunama]

Local councils never cease to amaze me either with their stupidity.
I needed to fell three trees on my land in Jindabyne as they were dropping branches, at first I was told I could not remove them, I then asked for full contact details of the councillors for my solicitor so I could sue them if I was injured by a falling branch. Amazingly my permit turned up in my mailbox in 3 days.
These days I tend to cut first ask permission later.

[mithrandir]

Have a read of this one (http://www.thehills.nsw.gov.au/Trees.html#.Ul-KAhDm7HA). Fines up to $1.1M.

[casstony]

I don't think there should be any need for council involvement on residential property provided large trees are removed by professionals who have experience and insurance.

[FlashDrive]

Stupidity reigns when people are given power.....but LACK WISDOM ...with handling such powers.....that's typical of MANY Councils in this country.
I've had my run-ins with them to.....three cheers for Council Elections.....time to get rid of them.

Flash......

[Stardrifter_WA]

It doesn't matter who you vote for, they're all the same. I realise there has to be rules, but I am not able to do a thing on my property without having to pay heavily for the privilege of doing it. And that is assuming that they actually let me do in the first place. I hate councils, they appear to be a law unto themselves. There is definitely no WISDOM or COMMON SENSE that prevails in councils.

[JB80]

It could be worse, around here you are supposed to seek approval and pay tax on things like painting your inside walls or repairing broken tiles.
Someone I know recently was repairing two tiles with a angle grinder and got a knock at the door from the police who asked to see their permit which they didn't have so they promptly got fined and had to go to the council to get a permit and pay the tax.

For two tiles.

Welcome to Spain. :)

[mental4astro]

The stupidity is MORE PROFOUND than this.

You see those fires outside your Blue Mountains windows? The helicopters and aircraft used to fight these devastating fires use Katoomba Airfield for respite, refuelling and planning. Now, there are members on the BM Council that want to CLOSE the Airfield and return it to National Parks. The one and only functional Airfield in the entire Blue Mountains that is within striking distance of these fires.

I'm sure that these same sage members would be screaming the loudest for a helicopter to drop a bucket load of water on their humpty. Oh, but wait, the helicopter is now 1hr away now because YOU closed the Airfield, and these water laden choppers only have a 2hr range due to the water load they take. And YOUR humpty ain't gonna be the chopper's first priority. Their priority will be the fire front that is now consuming even MORE houses due to your wisdom... Good one, Blue Mountians Council, :thumbsup:. Real wisdom is being shown.

[Wavytone]

Unfortunately many property owners are not sufficiently pro-active - as in sending formal requests to their council for permission to take appropriate action - when they should be.

There have been examples where - in Sydney - property owners requested permission to reduce the hazards posed by large trees to property in a heavily treed suburb, and the request was denied. A building and cars were subsequently seriously damaged when the hazard became reality.

The owners subsequently sued the council successfully for damages on the basis they had attempted to do the right thing to reduce the hazard but were prevented from doing so by the council.

Anyone requesting permission from councils to conduct hazard reduction activities - whether they be a hazard reduction through clearing scrub or trees away from houses, burning, lopping or reducing tree canopies, or landscaping or flood mitigation - as appropriate to the risks posed to your property - should include a statement that if this request is denied and the property is damaged or destroyed as a result of the hazard occurring you will take legal action against the council to recover damages.

The other aspect is that the concept of a fire break between houses and eucalypts/ti-trees seems to totally escape councils which in many cases think as little as 3m - or even 0.5m is adequate !

Hopefully in the light of these fires there can also be pressure applied to make sure the airstrip remains.

[Steffen]

I just hope our Blue Mountain forum members escaped yesterday's inferno unscathed…

Cheers
Steffen.

[AstroJason]

Well I just saw the news on channel 9 and they did a little segment on the choppers and planes fighting these horrible fires and it really showed the importance of Katoomba Airfield. They were all taking off from there and the airfield is being used a a base. They even showed the pilots getting a well earned rest in the airfield office, the same little office we use to warm up in when we observe from there. Hard to believe how much things can change in a couple months. I really hope Katoomba council changes their tune. I don't want to even think how much worse the fires could be if it weren't for the airfield.

[Terry B]

A similar level of stupidity is shown by the insurance companies. I had a large gum tree that was hit by lightning a few years ago. It split off half of it and killed the rest. The remaining bits hang over my shed. The insurance company refused to pay to have the dead tree removed but told me they would pay to repair the shed if it fell through it.
I tried 2 local tree loppers but they wouldn't do it. Eventually the electricity guys came to clear under my wires and they removed it for free as a "good will" gesture. It took a cherry picker and about 6 guys a morning to remove it. I'm still using it for firewood.

[rogerg]

There has to be a balance. Where I am there is no protection on trees on blocks under 4000sqm. I see every new person who moves in to our street chainsaws another few trees, in some cases all the trees on the block. In the 8 years we've been here it's gone from a nice forested area to having significant gaps with no trees. I'd like some protection on the trees here.

The same people who chainsaw the trees here, seem to be happy for grass to grow 1m+ tall and stay that way all summer, and their gardens in general be overgrown and a fire hazard.