John Oberg enjoyed his morning tea from a new locale Tuesday morning: on the boulevard along Cadboro Bay Road, where he pulled up a lawn chair and sat beneath a towering Douglas fir tree slated for removal.
Oberg set up shop with a friend beneath the canopy of the ancient but ailing tree on Cadboro Bay Road near Arbutus Road, and within 15 minutes, a the tree removal company hired by Saanich to fall the tree had joined them.
Next came a small group of concerned residents whoB次元官网网址檇 like to see more testing done before the tree is taken down. Representatives from the municipalityB次元官网网址檚 parks department, and two police officers called in to keep the peace.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e not radicals,B次元官网网址� Oberg said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e senior citizens. B次元官网网址� WeB次元官网网址檙e just a bunch of seniors that love our neighbourhood and donB次元官网网址檛 want people destroying it.B次元官网网址�
The handful of residents refused to leave the base of the tree and their protest has worked, for now. Saanich's plan to remove the tree is postponed once more B次元官网网址� at least temporarily.
B次元官网网址淥bviously itB次元官网网址檚 not safe to remove the tree if folks are in the way,B次元官网网址� said Rae Roer, manager of Saanich parks. B次元官网网址淭he original reason to remove the tree is about safety, so weB次元官网网址檙e not going to put people at risk by trying to remove the tree, when theyB次元官网网址檙e unwilling to get out from the hazard zone underneath the tree.B次元官网网址�
The tree has fallen victim to a rot-causing fungus, phaeolus schweinitzii, and the Saanich parks department had deemed that it should be removed, given its size and location in an area prone to high winds. The group of invested locals, to which Oberg belongs, hired their own arborist to conduct an independent review of the health of the tree after SaanichB次元官网网址檚 initial discovery of the fungus in the spring.
That process yielded the same conclusion as SaanichB次元官网网址檚 testing. By the end of August, Saanich agreed to a third review of the health of the tree and imposed a deadline of Oct. 5 to receive any additional information residents found, before the scheduled removal during this week, Roer said.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e been trying to be patient to see what that information is, but thereB次元官网网址檚 been no real hard and fast information that has changed our opinion,B次元官网网址� Roer added. B次元官网网址淲inter storms are approaching and that tree presents a risk we have to address. WeB次元官网网址檝e been very patient and attempted to be open and transparent from the beginning.B次元官网网址�
Residents have the assistance of a lawyer who lives in the neighbourhood, Oberg said, noting that an injunction against Saanich is in the works. Roer confirmed the department had received some correspondence, but no official legal action had been made by press time.
B次元官网网址淲here the factual trail goes, we will live with. But we are confident, we know now, that the trail still needs some development,B次元官网网址� Oberg said.
nnorth@saanichnews.com
