Editor
I READ the letter in the 12 June issue of Northglen News entitled ‘Saddened by callous ‘slaughter”, written by Juliet Seidl, and I cannot agree more. We all need to be aware of what is happening in our suburbs regarding the indiscriminate felling of trees, and the perpetrators must not go unpunished.
A few years ago we watched in horror as that beautiful wild fig tree was felled, at the edge of the Umhlanga Mall grounds, on the right as you go down into the village. That tree was at least 80 years old and it was a landmark. We phoned the Umhlanga Parks Department, and someone named Reggie came and tried to placate us.
He said they were aware of it, but there was nothing they could do as the tree was on the owner of the mall’s premises. It seems the owner wanted to create more parking. We worked out that exactly two more spaces were created after this magnificent tree was cut down. Reg went on to promise that a tree would be planted on the verge in a similar position.
This has still not been done, and obviously will never happen. This mentality of greed will prevail – but one can and must protest to show that we care.
N van den Blink
uMmhlanga
