The rights of a tree

On 29 October the world mourned when the famous Sycamore Gap tree was felled at a UNESCO World Heritage site in the UK. This tree was not only famous to the local people in Northumberland but worldwide. This tree held a special place in many people’s hearts, so it was a devastating shock when it was revealed that it was a deliberate act of vandalism.

Why did the felling of this tree cause so much grief? The tree was planted in the late 1800s by the last landowner before the National Trust took it over. Not only was the tree old, it had cultural value. Much photographed, it became symbolic of Hadrian’s wall and its significance. It also became a cultural icon, appearing in the 1991 movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and becoming known as the Robin Hood Tree. Trees are a living link between the past, present and future and the senseless loss of a tree is destabilising. The National Trust’s site’s General Manager Andrew Poad said “We’ve been amazed and inspired by the offers of help and good wishes we’ve received from here in Northumberland, around the UK, and even from overseas. It’s clear that this tree captured the imaginations of so many people who visited, and that it held a special – and often poignant – place in many people’s hearts.”

Australians nationwide gave their condolences. Yet we have one of the highest land clearance rates in the world. On a local level, many Australians think nothing of chopping down trees in their own backyard. We have high extinction rates, yet no one really cares about habitat destruction, especially in the urban areas. We should use significant trees such as the Pin Oak at Oxley as an example of why trees are so important. The Pin Oak is so significant to the Oxley community that even this magazine is named after it. It is central to our school life. When students come from other schools for sport on the weekend, you’ll often find them in awe of the tree. Each year on Foundation Day, the Year 12 students plant a tree to celebrate their growth and development while at Oxley.

It’s clear that this tree captured the imaginations of so many people who visited, and that it held a special – and often poignant – place in many people’s hearts

Last year, at an over 55s retirement village in Bowral, an 80-year-old Bhutanese pine tree was needlessly felled. The tree was the last in a magnificent avenue leading up to the old Annesley School for Girls. The reason for its felling was a little known rule in the Wingecarribee Council DCP allowing any tree regardless of age, heritage value or health to be removed without approval if it is within 3 metres of the foundations of a house or pool, regardless of what was there first. Each council has different rules; if the same tree was in Sydney or most other areas of NSW it would not have been allowed to be removed.

Soon there will be houses as far as the eye can see when the farmland from Burradoo to Moss Vale gets built on going all the way to the racecourse. Is it really in the Aussie spirit to look for loopholes to get rid of trees?

The landscape of the Wingecarribee was much admired by the early explorers. Standing on Mount Gingingullen in 1798, John Price described the view across some large meadows as being one of the finest in the world. In 1820, Governor Macquarie wrote that the land near Sutton Forest was magnificent, resembling a fine extensive pleasure ground in England. He only wished his family were out here to appreciate this sweet spot with him.

Is it really in the Aussie spirit to look for loopholes to get rid of trees?

In 1926 Mayor HM Oxley wrote of Bowral:

Everywhere natural shade trees have been left; for, in former years, some kindred spirits must have had a secret understanding to leave unmolested wooded areas. That spirit has become infectious, until to-day it is sacrilege to uproot a tree, and all natural growth is highly prized and jealously guarded.

We who call Australia home should start realising that you don’t have to search far and wide to find a beautiful tree, it might just be waiting in your garden, one of your local parks, or even at the school you go to, ready for you to understand its value to our country. So, let’s say be inspired by the Pin Oak. Let’s realise that we can make connections with things great and small in life, whether enjoying the scent of a flower or looking up at a monumental tree.

Lucy C, Year 8