Saturday 14th December 2019

In an underhand and secret tree cull workers were spotted felling 120 year old Milkwood trees in Darwin Post Office Car Park at 7am this morning.

One tree was down by dawn.

A small group of concerned residents attended site and managed to gain a halt the felling of tree two. According to ABC Radio police ordered the stay of execution due to pending heritage listing of the second Milkwood tree. The accompanying photo shows the World War two helmet embedded in the tree.

PLan: the Planning Action Network Inc are dismayed at the continued ignorance of our elected politicians to sanction such an attack on NT Heritage. The current Lord Mayor and Chief Minister were voted in on the promise of open government and protection of our heritage and green assets and this is the result.

The claim of an extra 500 hoped for international students for Charles Darwin University as the basis of a $150m loan to a university that is planning to demolish buildings on the current campus does not pass the pub test. This after Barneson Boulevard forever divided the Frog Hollow park heritage precinct.

Sunday 15th December 2019

The second tree was down by dawn.

There has been no release to the public of details of what is planned for this site other than the concept illustration. This is the first of the tender advice posts https://planinc.org.au/news/current-campaigns-2/248-darwin-post-office-car-park-25-11-2019.html

Below we look at the statements we can find. Italics represent the articles as found.

• Lord Mayor of Darwin Kon Vaskalis appears to contradict himself (see paragraphs nine and ten). Also he withdraws from Social Media.
• The NT News article of 20 September 2019 is in direct contravention of the outcome. It would be good to know who the Darwin Council spokesman was.
• National Trust statement after the trees were felled.
• Statement from CDU, I am still trying to track down the original so treat with caution.

PLan offer the following thoughts:

• It is clear that the process of spending big money to revitalise the city is failing community. Whether it will actually bring prosperity to us all is perhaps questionable also.
• A halt on proceedings is required and true consultation should begin.
• Respect for our heritage, our green space, our unique community and environs are mandatory for those who seek to manage our assets.
• Consultation by press release and Facebook post does not cut it with Territorians.

Events

12:15 Wednesday 18/12/19

The first one will be at 12.15pm, Wednesday 18th December hosted by Gerry. This will allow people to come down at lunch time to show they cared about the tree as opposed to our civic leaders. There will be a plaque put in place near were the old tree once stood and a new tree planted to replace the old one. The ceremony will be short because of the heat. Please wear something bright as this is a celebration of a grand old tree and the beginning of a new one. Also wear a hat. Ring Gerry Wood for more details 0428698037.

The second gathering will be hosted by Taste of The Top End and Darwin Community Arts. They will have small Milkwood trees for people to take and plant in areas that will not be developed. The ceremony will also be on Wednesday, 18 December 2019 from 17:00-18:30pm.

Lord Mayor of Darwin

This quote from the Lord Mayor of Darwin, see paragraphs 9 and 10 (our emphasis) which appear to be opposing statements (Facebook 15/12/19.) A bit of a bet each way.

I have followed with great disappointment and dismay recent Facebook posts regarding the removal of the Milkwood trees at the proposed new Charles Darwin University (CDU) campus on Cavenagh Street.

It is obvious that some people will resort to misinformation, personal attacks and name calling to suit their narrative ignoring facts and truth.

So let’s get the facts right; the real facts and not the fake news:

CDU, the Northern Territory Government and the City of Darwin Council jointly applied and achieved a Darwin City Deal; one of the best in the country.

Under this City Deal, the Federal and NT governments will provide funding to CDU for a new campus in the middle of the city – a project that will revitalise the Darwin CBD. As part of the City Deal, the Council will provide the Cavenagh street car park for the new campus site.

CDU received a Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) loan of $150 million for this new campus. Similarly, as part of this City Deal, the Council has given the right to CDU to do works in the site for the construction of the new campus.

CDU has already completed geo-technical to establish the suitability of the ground and has proceeded with detailed planning of the new campus.

The advice to CDU from engineers and architects was to remove the tree.

“Following consultation with Larrakia Nation, it has been agreed unanimously with CDU, City of Darwin and the Northern Territory Government to remove two milkwood trees to enable the transformation of the car park into a world class education and civic precinct,” a CDU spokesperson said.

SO THE FACT IS THAT the milkwood trees were removed by CDU on the advise of their experts and NOT by the City of Darwin Council.

Following advice by CDU, the City of Darwin Council enquired with the Aboriginal Sacred sites and indigenous groups but no indication of importance was identified.

The City of Darwin Council does not and will not remove trees unless there are good reasons (ie safety of people and structures, power lines, playgrounds etc). On the contrary, the City of Darwin Council has embarked on a rapid reforestation of our city with 7000 trees planted by the end of December this year and many more to come in the next two years. This was somehow missed by the people who put upload postings in Facebook – and this is a fact!

I have spoken to the CDU Vice-Chancellor, and I believe that CDU will provide information regarding the removal of the trees.

As I have stated before, it is sad that people will rely on social media for inaccurate information and not search for the real facts.

I responded personally to people who have contacted me seeking the truth but after this debate has fallen to such a low level, I will not respond any more. It very sad that people will resort to personal attacks and foul language in their posting.

I invite you all to check the facts and not social media postings!

NT NEWS September 20, 2019 7:11am

WILL ZWAR, will.zwar@news.com.au, NT News

Subscriber only

A HERITAGE listed milkwood tree will be protected by its strict conditions while the future education and civic precinct is developed

A Darwin council spokesman said Charles Darwin University had found possible culturally significant elements of the milkwood tree, during geotechnical investigations of the Cavenagh St carpark site, where the trees are located.

“During CDU’s site investigations, which are required to inform the development of the site, it was found that there is the existence of some groundwater, soft soil confined to one corner and milkwood trees that may have cultural significance,” she said.

“To confirm the status of the milkwood trees, City of Darwin has undertaken to work with the Larrakia to determine cultural significance and an appropriate approach.”

It comes after independent Member for Nelson Gerry Wood said the milkwood tree, estimated to be more than 100 years old, hadn’t been addressed by CDU in the campus’ design, unlike the nearby boab tree.

But it has not been neglected forgotten about in planning for the site and will be preserved during construction of the new precinct.

“The historical and heritage-listed Boab Tree on the site has been known to the City Deal parties since the announcement of the project and will be protected in accordance with its strict conditions as part of the development,” the spokeswoman said.

“City of Darwin is looking forward to finalising the implementation plan with all parties and delivering on the Darwin City Deal.”

Darwin council, CDU and the NT Government will determine the best approach for the development of the site over the coming weeks.

 National Trust Tim Dixon Statement on the Milkwood Trees

The National Trust has received many enquiries about the milkweed trees chopped down by Charles Darwin University on the weekend.

I can confirm the trees were on the National Trust Register of Significant Trees. They were listed in 1986 and recorded as being planted in the 1880s.

The Register has no legal power of protection of the trees – it is simply a recognition of trees which are important and significant to the Northern Territory.

More concerning is that Charles Darwin University removed the trees after they were nominated for heritage protection, as a way of perverting the Northern Territory’s heritage protection system.

If other developers see what Charles Darwin University has done and if it is without consequence, then they might be encouraged to also bulldoze or destroy buildings of potential significance before they have the opportunity to be assessed. We regard this as an unacceptable gap in the system of heritage protection.

Therefore, the National Trust will be lobbying the Heritage Council, and through them Minister Lauren Moss, to amend the Heritage Act so that this wilful destruction is not encouraged in the future.

Many people have compared this to the destruction of the Hotel Darwin – in many ways, that’s a fair comparison.

Owners and developers from all around the Northern Territory accept and acknowledge the system of heritage protection and work within it. It is only a very small proportion who actively try to abuse the process, or who rush destroying the Territory’s heritage to evade the system that every other developer goes through. It is very disappointing that Charles Darwin University, funded from our taxes, is in this small proportion of bad faith operators.

In the meantime, we will regretfully go through the process of removing the trees that Charles Darwin University cut down from the Register of Significant Trees.

Tim Dixon, Director

 This is the post by Charles Darwin University not seen in the original

We would like to acknowledge community concerns around the removal of two milkwood trees on the site of the Education and Civic precinct in Darwin CBD. While it was not an easy decision for any of the partners involved, it was essential for the project to proceed.

The heritage-listed Boab tree on the site had top priority for preservation and following extensive independent planning and third-party assessments, it became clear two milkwood trees would need to be removed to accommodate the new precinct at the site. Consultations were held with Larrakia Nation, and a formal assessment sought from AAPA and no significance was registered for this site nor for these trees.

Cuttings of the large milkwood tree have been taken and will be grown out so a direct connection to this tree can be maintained. All stakeholders have agreed to a significant replacement planting program in conjunction with Larrakia and other interested parties.

This $300 million (+) project has four key parties involved: the Australian Government, the NT Government, the City of Darwin, and CDU. The project partners agreed that preparation work at the site would begin as soon as Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) funding was secured.

The requirement for tree removal was included in information distributed to media and other interested parties at the NAIF announcement on Wednesday last week.