SUTHERLAND Shire mayor Kent Johns has accused Ausgrid of "tree management by butchery" and says the energy provider has a management strategy of hacking the life out of trees so they die or fall in a storm.
Councillor Johns said he was appalled by Ausgrid's recent efforts to trim trees around power lines in the shire.
"I appreciate that trees coming into contact with power lines is a safety issue; however, the manner in which our trees are being trimmed by Ausgrid equates to butchery and actually destroys their long-term viability," he said.
"Ausgrid has an agenda to reduce its tree trimming costs and the latest round of tree destruction is clear evidence that their long-term solution is to hack the life out of the trees so either they die or they fall over in a storm."
An Ausgrid spokeswoman admitted that some recent trimming in parts of the shire "did not meet Ausgrid's high standards".
Following recent complaints, Ausgrid met council staff and inspected trees particularly around Bonnet Bay and Como.
"The contractors who carried out the work have been issued with a major non-conformance against their contract as a result of some of the techniques used to complete the cutting, and audits of their work is continuing," the spokeswoman said.
The amount trimmed to achieve the safety clearance distance is determined by the voltage of the power lines, the species of tree, and whether the tree and power lines are in a bushfire-prone area, like much of Sutherland Shire is.
"Many of the trees throughout the shire are single-leader eucalyptus; when these are planted directly under power lines it is difficult to achieve an aesthetically pleasing cut."
Cr Johns said the Ausgrid workers were not arborists.
Rather, they had qualifications to work near power lines with "no understanding" of tree health or how to maintain the integrity of a tree's structure.
"This means that trees are left in a dangerous condition, horribly lopsided or even split down the middle.
"Not only are the trees a blight on the natural tree canopy of the shire but it's a safety issue for the community," he said.
Cr Johns said the council wanted to work with Ausgrid to remove these trees as long as there was a more sustainable approach by Ausgrid in the future.
"Residents can't continue to pay for Ausgrid's poor tree management," he said.
"Council is also replacing removed trees with more appropriate under-wire species that will not require pruning in the future, and at the same time is planting taller trees in suitable locations to ensure the shire maintains the green tree canopy so appreciated by residents.
"What this situation amounts to is cost shifting whereby Ausgrid overtrims the trees and therefore damages our trees to such a point that council has to remove them.
"Ausgrid needs to have more respect for our trees and work with council on sustainable solutions."
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