If you were in Moree's CBD early enough on Wednesday morning, you may have noticed a number of signs decorating the trees along Balo Street with one simple message - 'Please don't cut me down'.
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A sign was placed on every Ficus Hillii tree in Balo Street - 17 in fact - during the early hours of Wednesday morning, however by 7.45am the signs had all been taken down and most people making their morning commute to work in the CBD would have missed them.
But former Moree councillor Claudia Gall, who was behind the exploit, is hoping those few hours that the signs were up will create enough attention to get people talking.
"It came to my notice that council has plans to remove the Ficus Hillii trees; they've been talking about it for 10 years or more," she said of her reasoning behind the sign stunt.
"The trees I am passionate about and I want council to have a conversation with our community about them."
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So, to make a statement and to make the community aware of council's plans, Ms Gall woke early on Wednesday morning to put up the signs at 4.30am - "so I wouldn't cause a hazard".
"I tried to give the trees a voice," she said.
"I wanted to dip my toe in the water to see what people thought. I want to get people talking. Everyone's got an opinion. If everyone wants them down, then that's democracy, but what I don't like is council deciding on issues like this without making the community aware."
Ms Gall said she was disappointed to see the signs taken down so quickly by council workers.
"I think it rather shows a guilty conscience and a lack of respect for the community to be able to voice our concerns," she said.
Moree Plains Shire Council has confirmed that the trees will be removed as part of a Balo Street tree replacement program, approved in consultation with the urban advisory committee (made up of community and council representatives), which will see four trees removed every two to three years, beginning this current 2019-2020 financial year.
A council spokesperson said more than 600 tiles have been replaced in the main street since the trees were planted in August 1999 (as three to five year old trees, making them approximately 22 years old), as part of a broader main street renewal program. At least half of the tile damage was attributed to the roots from the trees.
"Major pavement works in recent years have identified that the root mass under the pavement and concrete has created damage to irrigation and stormwater lines, in addition to the popped tiles and broken concrete foundations," the spokesperson said.
"Further, recent works at tenancies in the main street have revealed that the roots systems are encroaching under shop fronts, creating major maintenance works not only for council but also for private building owners.
"As such, the existing Ficus Hillii trees in the CBD area of Moree have resulted in increasing maintenance costs as their canopy and root system is ever enlarging."
Ms Gall said while the Ficus Hillii variety "probably wasn't a good choice" of tree to plant in the CBD in the first place, due to the damage the roots can cause, they're there now and should be maintained, rather than cut down.
"They're an asset that haven't been maintained," she said.
"Trees need to be maintained just like roads and parks and gardens, but council hasn't maintained them properly in the first place."
The council spokesperson said regular pruning of the trees is in fact causing the roots grow quicker to "balance the need for additional nutrients", and that mitigating actions such as tree guards have proven counter-productive elsewhere in the shire.
"For large trees such as this species, the root system is engineered to support a massive structure above the ground so as the branches widen and gain weight, the roots below are growing and spreading to support the mass," the spokesperson said.
"Tree guards seek to encourage downward root growth, however, with the roots needing to support such branch weight, such guards are ineffective with the roots seeking horizontal growth."
Ms Gall said those trees are what makes Moree's CBD so beautiful and if they were to be taken down, it would negatively impact the aesthetics of the main street which in turn might not attract as many tourists to our shops.
"Our beautiful streetscape that is the envy of many other towns in the western district and regional NSW is going to be laid bare if they're taken down," she said.
"It's a community asset. Our retailers are having enough troubles now with the drought and online shopping, but one thing that will draw people to a particular area is the amenity of it. We've got a great cafe society and great cafes. We've got people hanging on by their fingernails. They need every asset they can get.
"I spend a lot of time at the pool and in cafes and I talk to a lot of people, particularly people from out of town, and one of the things they say is 'you're so lucky to have your magnificent water and your magnificent trees'. I often get comments about our main street, but it's the trees they focus on."
For every tree removed, council plans to replace the Ficus Hillii with the slightly smaller version of fig tree Ficus Flash, and also plans to plant additional trees to compensate.
The first trees being considered for removal due to their large size and damage they are causing are the ones on the NAB and the Max Centre corners in Heber Street and the two trees on the Webb and Boland corner of Balo Street.
"When replacing the trees nominated, council would plant two additional trees in Heber Street on the western side of the intersection to improve the aesthetic appeal and balance of this intersection," the council spokesperson said.
"Two additional trees could also be planted on the western side of Balo Street, opposite the Civic Precinct, which in less than 10 years' time would provide significant shade to the participants of the annual ANZAC Day service and other commemorative services.
"So the first year of this program would see four trees removed and eight trees planted."
Ms Gall said her next step will be to contact the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA).
"They are hammering our agriculturalists about tree removal, so how can council justify this tree removal?" she asked.
"Trees are healthy for the environment. It's their job to give us healthy air."