Letter to the editor: Concern over Chelmsford Place redevelopment, landscaping plans

The indifference displayed by Leeton Shire council, its councillors and staff when replacing native trees for introduced species is extremely disappointing.

The forced changing of our landscape is a cause for concern.

Two introduced species are being planted in the re-development of Chelmsford Place are Chinese Elms (Ulmus parvifolia) and Chinese Pistache (Pistacia chinensi). The addition of these species to town landscaping and preference over native species is increasingly concerning. Chinese Elms are listed as a weed, with the potential to invade agricultural land by Brisbane City Council, the Queensland government, and many states in the United States of America.

In my work around Leeton, I have witnessed the spread of these trees, on council verges, garden beds, lawns, cracks in cement, the joins between slabs of concrete and in the spaces at the sides of houses and sheds. I have seen the seedlings sprout in garden beds where there are no Chinese Elms in the area.

The roots of Chinese Elms are also slightly allelopathic. These roots can exude chemicals that slow the growth of other plants growing nearby to allow itself full access to nutrients in the area. With a very dense canopy that can be up to 15 metres wide if environmental conditions allow, it has an almost "choking" foliage when it loses its leaves in autumn.

The leaves do not break down as quickly as other deciduous trees causing lawns and gardens to suffer greatly. With up 24000 native plants and trees, Australia has one true deciduous plant, losing its leaves in preparation for the winter months. There are northern deciduous trees that lose their leaves to prepare for the dry season. Our ancient landscape is more suitable for evergreen trees.

These evergreens have adapted to the harsh environment of Australia by being opportunistic in nature and always at the ready to soak up the good rains, the sunlight and any other favourable weather conditions needed to thrive.

The Chinese Pistache also has issues that need to be addressed. Chinese Pistache require regular, deep watering, up to 25mm of water a week depending on the weather conditions. This is quite heavy watering needs compared to the native flora of the area, and given that we are heading into an El Nino weather pattern, a tree species such as this could suffer greatly with the environmental conditions we experience.

Leaf scorch is a major problem with Chinese Pistache which is a sign of a lack of water. Verticillium wilt, a fungal disease, is also a common problem for these trees. It is a result of not being planted in a free draining soil. The soil in Leeton can be somewhat heavy to clay like and can also be quite rocky as well. This requires extensive work to create the ideal conditions for these trees and regular ongoing monitoring to assure their survival. Surely utilising plants that are native to our country and our area would be more desirable for appearance and maintenance reasons alone.

We have been down this road before. Lessons from our past have not been learned. The introduction of rabbits, carp, Lantana, Camphor Laurel, pigs and so on all proved disastrous for our landscape and lifestyles.

The cycle is repeating and in 10, 20, or as little as 5 years we will see the error of our ways as we are unfortunately making mistakes in the same vein. The United States of America is dealing with the introduction of the Ornamental Pear (Pyrus calleryana).

IN OTHER NEWS:

A popular landscaping tree that has found a far too comfortable home there and is now considered a weed. One horticulturist in Illinois counted seven seedlings in a nine square metre quadrant on a vacant block of land with no mature trees in the area.

This species is also on the Leeton Shire Council's tree management policy as a preferred species to plant. This tree is being planted all over town and in new developments and I fear we will follow the same path as America.

Our forced changing of the local landscape will have serious impacts for our wildlife.

We are replacing all native flora on parcels of land to build a house or re-develop a part of the CBD with shrubs and trees that are introduced species that our local wildlife have not adapted to.

We are forcing that change on them so we can have a "formal" or "neater" look to the town. The Indigenous peoples did not change the landscape to suit their "wants".

The settlers to the region didn't come here because of how formal the area is.

I see in areas such as Golf Club Estate, the lack of shade trees which brings concerns of children playing in the summers we experience here, exposing them to higher risks of skin cancers (that Australia is already a world leader in). Our landscape has a beauty that should be embraced wholeheartedly instead of replaced.

I live in hope that we can learn to manage and embrace our local flora to incorporate it more into our towns identity, and pave the way forward for future generations to look first into their own area for inspiration and beauty and not seek to change an area to suit themselves.

Geoffrey Weir

Leeton

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