A lengthy match between Wodonga's tennis players and boisterous cockatoos could this month see the sporting centre secure the match point, but not all residents are cheering.
Key points:
- Wodonga Tennis Centre has been battling to remove an avenue of pine trees for 15 years
- Wodonga Council plans to remove 18 trees this month
- But some residents want to save the pines, which house cockatoos and provide shade
For 15 years, the Wodonga Tennis Centre has fought to remove an avenue of neighbouring 60-year-old pine trees, which it claims create constant mess and hosts flocks of gang-gang and yellow-tailed black cockatoos, that destroy nets and court surfaces.
Wodonga Council will begin removing 18 of the Lawrence Street pine trees from September 26 to reduce the ongoing cost and resources required for the centre to remove pine tree litter and debris, and reduce the risk of falling pine cones.
However, Wodonga resident Marie Condon fears for the birds, and is helping compile a petition to save the trees to present to this month's council meeting.
"One of my main concerns was the birds," she said.
"Since 2019 we noticed that the [cockatoos] have this flight path, that's when we first noticed them across our house, and then we discovered they were going to the pine trees to feed on the seeds from the pines.
"Obviously their habitat has been well endangered, and possibly quite large loss of [habitat], because of the bushfires."
Gang-gang cockatoo are listed as endangered in Victoria, and federally.
Ms Condon said the removal of the trees would also impact the aesthetics of the street and reduce their urban cooling effects, and the community had not been properly consulted.
"I just feel like somebody had to stand up for something to do with this," she said.
The move to save the pine trees has gained the support of the Friends of the Earth organisation, which in a letter to council argued that the trees sequester carbon, and contribute significant environmental, health and wellbeing benefits to the community.
"The [Wodonga's Street Tree Management] Plan highlights that Wodonga Council has a target to 'Increase tree canopy cover over entire urban Wodonga area from 16.67 per cent to 25 per cent by 2045'," the letter read.
"Clearly, the removal of 18 to 29 mature, healthy pine trees runs contrary to this plan."
Countless hours, money on clean up
The Wodonga Tennis Centre is one of the largest tennis centres in regional Australia, with eight synthetic and 10 Plexicushion, and 30 grass courts.
President Craig Farrar said every time the wind blew, he dreaded the huge mess the pine trees created on the grass courts below.
Loading..."The pine needles need to be mowed first, which is about a three-hour job, before we can actually use our really good mower to mow the grass courts," he said.
"So that's three hours every time the wind blows."
The clean-up costs the club more than $10,000 a year.
Mr Farrar fears it will impact the centre's reputation and even lead to staff resigning.
"It is pretty depressing when … you have done all this great work for a tournament and you come down and you have got to re-mow," he said.
"Sometimes that can happen daily almost, it's just terrible."
He said the pine tree roots also were impacting the courts and soaking up their allotted water, while the cockatoos had taken a liking to pulling up the synthetic surfaces and dropping pine cones.
Mr Farrar said he would welcome help from those wanting to save the trees.
"If they really want to see them preserved, we can give them plenty of hours of work down at the tennis centre breaking up and mowing up the pine cones and pine needles," he said.
"It has just got to a stage if we don't get rid of those trees, we won't have a great tennis centre like we have."
The Wodonga Council resolved to include the removal of the pine trees along Lawrence Street in its 2023-2024 budget, and is updating the community via its social media channels on the issue.