R2 000 fine for culling trees

THE community has been warned to resist the urge to cut down or even trim trees on municipal property, as this could land them in hot water, said Durban North ward councillor, Shaun Ryley.

This comes after a La Lucia resident was fined R2 000 for cutting a tree on Braemar Avenue last week.

According to Ryley, he received a compliant from a member of the public alleging that someone was cutting down a tree on the verge. He said he then forwarded the report to the Parks Department.

“I was told a law enforcement officer was sent out to inspect the report and the fine was then issued. This shows that the council is serious about the illegality of the public cutting down trees on municipal property and that there are consequences to breaking the law,” he said.

Ryley said the laws were in place for a reason and urged the public to report overgrown vegetation to the municipality.

“It prevents people from cutting down trees willy-nilly. If every average Joe was allowed to just cut down the vegetation it would be difficult to monitor and maintain,” he said.

The councillor said residents who have reported overgrown vegetation and had not seen any response in a reasonable amount of time should report such cases to him, so that he could escalate the issue to the relevant authorities.

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