After two trees were cut down on Baker Road, a call to preserve Edenvale’s greenery and municipal street trees was raised.
The trees in question, Rhus Lancea, were located near the T-junction of Baker Road and Bhala Avenue.
“One of the attractions of Edenvale has always been its green canopy. It is peaceful and calm. The town has a lot of greenery and trees,” said Ward 18 Ald Heather Hart.
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She said the suburbs where there are municipal trees on the pavement and the suburbs where there are not are chalk and cheese in comparison.
“In certain suburbs, trees inside private properties are relied on to attract birds, and to provide the peacefulness Edenvale is known for.
“In Edenvale, we really value our trees, they are incredibly important not only for the birdlife but for producing oxygen.”
Ward 18 ward committee member of the environmental portfolio Lisa Aitkens said besides being important for the environment, municipal street trees act as a sound barrier.
“They provide a screening and minimise the sound of traffic on a main road such as Baker Road.”
Hart said presently one of the problems is that the parks department does not have the capacity to do all the tree pruning required.
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“Despite it being unlawful in terms of the bylaws, permission can be granted to prune municipal trees.
“Permission needs to be requested from the customer care centre, the CoE’s mobile app, the parks department in High Road or your local councillor,” said Hart.
Lis said alternatively requests can be made directly to the parks department by emailing both
Sithembile.Mbatha@ekurhuleni.gov.za and lisa@essentiallyedenvale.co.za.
“Because we are aware of the lack of resources the department is more than amenable to being approached by community members willing to fell a tree at their own cost. Nine times out of 10 permission will be granted so long as a reputable tree feller is being used,” said Hart.
She said the city takes the unlawful removal of its trees seriously.
For this reason, unlawful tree removal carries a severe fine.
She said in one instance when in December three heritage Wild Olive trees were cut down by a property owner, a fine of R107, 217 was issued.
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Lisa explained that the unlawful removal of trees isn’t unique to Edenvale and has occurred in Bedfordview.
She said a tree, which was over 100 years old, was cut down on Van Buuren Road.
“That is like cutting down history,” Lisa said.
The City of Ekurhuleni said the trees near the T-junction of Baker Road and Bhala Avenue were not cut down by the municipality.
CoE spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said no request was made to the council nor was permission given to anyone to cut the trees.
“These trees were trimmed by the council in January upon request made by the nearby complex.”
Addressing the claims that the parks department does not have the capacity to do all the tree prunning and cutting, Dlamini confirmed that there are delays.
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“Due to delays in the licensing of trucks such as cherry pickers and grab trucks, the department is at internal capacity and unable to conduct proper tree maintenance programmes,” he explained.
Dlamini confirmed that only the municipality and those with the municipality’s permission may prune or cut down a municipal tree.
“Those who do not have permission will be issued with an admission of guilty fine or will be prosecuted.”
According to street tree bylaws, trees are cut when they are damaging infrastructure.
It also states that a tree will be cut down if it is diseased beyond recovery, if it is dead or dying, if it poses a traffic hazard which pruning cannot rectify, if it hinders service delivery and infrastructure if it is invasive or affects road users.
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If a tree is damaged either willingly or accidentally its replacement value will be determined using the Helliwell system of tree evaluation.
“Further follow-ups regarding this matter will be raised with the complex management to determine if they were damaging the property,” said Dlamini.
