Central Coast gum tree wreaking havoc on homeowner after 14-year legal battle
In an irate homeowner’s 14-year battle to get rid of a giant gum tree that threatens his life – as he claims the towering ‘threat’ destroyed TWO of his cars: ‘It’s a danger to me, my family and the audience’
- Homeowner fights for a long time to get rid of giant tree
- The falling branches of the tree are a danger, says Simon
- The Council refuses to remove it, even if it pays
A desperate homeowner has criticized his city council for refusing to remove a giant tree he describes as a “threat.”
Simon, who lives on Avoca Beach on the NSW Central Coast, has been battling council for 14 years to get rid of the gum tree that towers over his property.
He says the tree dropped five branches on his home and caused significant damage.
Falling branches also smashed two of his cars, writing them both off.
Simon claims that on another occasion he and his dog narrowly escaped being hit by deadly falling branches.
Simon claims that once he and his dog narrowly escaped being hit by deadly falling branches
“It is a danger to me, my family, my property and the general public,” he told A Current Affair on Thursday.
“It needs to be demolished, the sooner the better.”
Simon’s claims are backed up by neighbor Annie.
“This tree has been a problem for many, many years.”
She said walking under the branches “all day, every day” is a risk, especially the children around.
The tree sits on Central Coast Council land, which has repeatedly refused to remove it.
The council said in a statement that “qualified arborists inspected the tree several times” and determined that it “did not need to be removed.”
In March, city officials were pruning and clearing dead wood following a second inspection for the year, having determined in January that no action was needed.
In 2018, they previously carried out maintenance on the tree.
“The City has already invested more than $1.6 million this fiscal year in public inspection, maintenance and removal of trees,” the statement from the City said.
It went on to say that the council would spend “$2.5 million by the end of the fiscal year to reduce the risk of harm to our community.”
Simon has been fighting for five years to get rid of a giant tree that he believes is a danger to himself and his property
Simon says that the falling branches of the trees twice wrote off his cars and damaged his house
The council has previously faced financial difficulties when the NSW state government stepped in to fire every council member in March 2022, when the body’s budget blew out to a debt of $89 million.
Simon says he’s so eager to get rid of the troublesome tree he’s offered to pay for its removal, which would cost about $4,000, and plant some less risky native vegetation instead.
However, this offer was again rejected.
“I think it’s one of those situations where the council waits for something to happen before they do anything about it,” he said.