Ausgrid is facing fresh criticism over its tree pruning practices in Newcastle.
The city’s Deputy Lord Mayor Declan Clausen said work carried out around Cooks Hill this week shows Ausgrid contractors are more aggressive than necessary.
“Ausgrid’s aggressive pruning practices are putting our street trees and public safety at risk,” Cr Clausen said in a post to his official Facebook page.
The presence of trees along inner city streets benefits urban cooling, with an up to eight degree celsius difference in some instances between shaded and unshaded areas. Street trees also bolster biodiversity and provide an aesthetic benefit to local neighbourhoods.
Ausgrid manages the maintenance of tree canopies growing around power infrastructure to reduce the risk of trees downing overhead electricity wires during bad weather.
The issue of harsh pruning has been a point of contention in the community for years with many locals considering it an eyesore.
Cr Clausen said Council had discussed these concerns a number of times and offered to collaborate on better ways of managing street trees with little success.
“Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes and myself have raised this issue multiple times with Ausgrid’s senior executives and government regulators, and our colleague Tim Crakanthorp [state MP for Newcastle] has even initiated petitions to parliament,” he said.
“We have proposed better models, and demonstrated an openness to alternatives like Aerial Bundled Cabling. Despite these efforts, the problem persists.”
Local MP Tim Crakanthorp was due to receive a briefing on Aerial Bundled Cabling (ABC) at the end of November 2022 and said at the time he was hopeful progress could be made.
According to Ausgrid, it involves the bundling of wires into a single insulated line which runs between electricity poles, reducing the need for extensive tree pruning.
While bundling is significantly cheaper than alternatives like underground cabling, it is a slow process with the program rolled out to just 22% of Ausgrid’s low voltage overhead network. A co-funding program is on offer to councils wishing to participate.
In the meantime, Cr Clausen is calling on Ausgrid to change the way street trees are cut back to accommodate power lines in Newcastle.
“Enough is enough,” he said.