‘High risk’ trees ripped out of beloved Gympie park
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Four trees standing tall in Gympie’s beloved Memorial Park were ripped out last year after being identified as having a “high risk” of failure.
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The issue was identified at this week’s workshop and councillor briefing, where it was revealed one of the park’s Jacaranda trees suffered a “basal failure” in mid-October.
That failure was identified by consultants who had used impulse tomography.
It’s understood the tree had been given a “safe useful life expectancy” of 20 years just 18 months earlier.
The council launched an “urgent review” of other trees in the park, which found two more Jacaranda trees and one Grevillea robusta were considered a “high risk of failure” with factors including the storm season and Christmas break.
All four trees were removed, along with a dead palm, in early December.
The council is waiting on a tree replacement plan and has sent an arborist report to the state, according to a document briefing the councillors on the issue at Wednesday’s meeting.
A council spokesman said it was hoped the replacement trees would be planted by mid to late March.
The spokesman said the initial tree failure was caused by “decay below ground level which presented a structural risk”, and the tree was estimated to be 70 to 80 years old.
