Barry’s mistake

This is from the Herald:

Mr O’Farrell, who is due to visit the Hunter Region today to open the WesTrac plant at Tomago, said ‘‘I wish that I could unpick’’ coal seam gas exploration licences granted under the former Labor government, but that doing so could open the state up to compensation liabilities.

POLICE PRESENCE OVERSHADOWS FIG PROTESTORS

POLICE PRESENCE OVERSHADOWS FIG PROTESTORS.

Go guys – all those lovely faces from protests and vigils.

And thank you Premier for not interfering with local government – oh, that’s right, you interfered by using 60 police to do things like use ‘pain compliance‘ on middle aged women, pinching people like toddlers do, dragging women around, putting knees in their backs and standing on young men’s hands.

And thank you Mr Pearce, our esteemed GM, for providing such fantastic supervision to ensure that fauna were protected and given time to escape – don’t worry about that nest that was thrown into the mulcher without being checked: the Roads Act trumps everything. Don’t worry about environmental issues.

Thanks to NCC’s legal advisers for coming up with this over a year ago: sleep well at night, do you?

Thanks Barry.

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An Open letter to The Premier and Newcastle’s Local Member by Stephen Costigan 14.1.2012

Dear Mr Owen, and Premier O’Farrell,

 First of all, I would like to wish you and yours a happy and successful 2012.

Secondly, I’d like to thank both you and the Premier for your positive support for the community in its ongoing struggle with the Newcastle City Council (NCC) over its determination to cut down the Laman St fig trees at all costs.

Thanks Mr O’Farrell 11.12.11

Had a lovely figtail party outside the Art Gallery on Friday. Greeted the Premier with cheers and signs and our lovely former secretary escorted Mr O’Farrell from his car to the front entrance.

We could be forgiven for thinking that Council tried to usher him in the rear – condemned – entrance of the gallery, in order to avoid any members of the community outside the gallery, but what politician would want to avoid a happy, respectable, welcoming crowd?

Here’s a 1 minute video of his arrival.

I’ll wager he didn’t feel at risk under the trees. And Cr Cook has been spreading joy again: he has distributed a document about what he sees as lies about Laman Street spread by campaigners. Here’s Mark Hartley, one of the community’s arborists, on a small part of that ‘litany’:

‘The assertion that it has been proven that the root plates are defective is simply false. Only Marsden has undertaken an examination of the root plates under the road and the only evidence that he could provide was that the roots were not present in hydrophobic soils that were not conducive to root growth and development.

Marsden correctly forms the view that the root plates are not on the surface. The assumption that an asymmetric root plate is defective in itself is false and has been presented without a piece of supporting evidence. I was able to show a tree at Angkor Watt  with significantly greater root plate asymmetry that has stood for hundreds of years.

In addition I can provide over 50 peer-reviewed and published  papers that challenge the assumption that root plate asymmetry is a defect.

See “Anchorage and Asymmetry in the Root System of Pinus peuce” Mickovski, S. Ennos, R. Silva Fennica 37(2);  “Anchorage of Mature conifer: resistive turning moment, root-soil plate geometry and root growth orientation” Lundstrom et el (2007)  Tree Physiology 27, 1217 – 1227; “Adaptive Growth of Tree Root systems in response to wind action and site conditions”  Nicoll, B & Ray, D. (1996) Tree Physiology 16, 891-898 as a start.

Cook refers to SULE but may not be aware that the originator of SULE, Jeremy Barrell, is one of the experts that NCC has disregarded, in spite of the fact that he acted independently of any party and received no remuneration for his assessment.’

I’ve posted this before but you can watch Barrell and his colleague Cashman talking about Laman Street here.

A tree in Tours in France, planted by Napoleon and not chopped down even though it needs support

He also says,

…I find it odd that there are numerous arborists who have come out in support of the retention of the trees because the risk of harm is not unacceptable…Has anyone seen the same support for the removal of the trees because of the risk they supposedly pose coming forward to the council?

The only support council has is from a group on a forum (who have been fed propaganda … with the hope of it causing damage to the SoF group).  Some people on this  believe that the trees should be removed to show the community that council makes decision and not the community. I agree with Cook that SOF does not represent the majority of the community, rather it represents the distinct majority of those who have an opinion either way about the trees. A large portion of the community do not care either way and unfortunately it is their money that NCC is wasting to avoid facing up to the facts “the trees do not pose an imminent risk.”

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Thanks to Sharon Healey for the photo of the Premier.

Figtails with the Premier to say thank you 9.12.2011

 Dear  FIG SUPPORTERS

You  are  cordially  invited

to the Darby Street end of Laman Street at 4.30pm Friday (9 December) for

 Fig-tails  with  the Premier.

Come to a rally and a Council meeting 8.11.2011

There’s a Council meeting on today which will consider the Laman Street trees. It starts at 5:30pm and there’s a rally on the steps beforehand, starting at 4:30.

Legal update 5.11.2011

Save Our Figs Inc has brought a case in the Land and Environment Court to try to force Council  to accept the Premier’s offer to appoint an independent arborist.

We’re in a time warp 26.10.2011

Yesterday I had my head down at work when one of the radio stations phoned me and told me of the unavailability of the single arborist chosen to be approached for expert assessment of the Laman St tree risk assertions.

3 rallies & a flash mob in a week 17.10.2011

This is Swan St These will be next to go

I’m stuck at work but I’m told that something like 400 people attended the latest fig tree rally on the steps of Town Hall this afternoon – in the hour leading up to a meeting of Councillors, and no doubt extending into the time of the meeting  itself.