FRANK Sposari reckons he could have been killed by a branch from a tree he has been asking Kogarah Council to remove for years.
"I went to get the bin — it was a windy day — I heard a crack and I ran," he said. "If it had hit me, I would have been dead for sure."
Mr Sposari, of Letitia Street, Oatley said the huge gumtree on his nature strip had become a major liability. Its roots had grown into his sandstone fence, lifted the driveway, got into the plumbing and were heading towards the house.
He said Sydney Water had to move the meter, and a plumber had told him he was looking at thousands of dollars of damage.
"Plus, it's a fire hazard and will kill someone," he said.
But despite constant emails to the council and heaps of incident reports, Kogarah Council would not consent to removal of the tree.
"That falling branch was the last straw," Mr Sposari said.
A council spokeswoman said the two blackbutt trees in the road reserve outside this property were inspected by the council's consulting arborist in October 2013 in response to the residents' concerns.
"The visual assessment determined tree removal was not warranted as both native trees displayed good health, condition and structure," she said.
"Maintenance pruning works were identified and undertaken at that time.
"The trees were inspected again by council's arborist on September 5, 2014, in response to the residents' most recent concerns."
The spokeswoman said the council took the management of the tree canopy seriously.
Should the tree be removed?