Newcastle deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen pans Ausgrid contractor pruning work in Cooks Hill

Mature trees on Council, Laman and Dawson streets were chopped last week, leaving large holes in the centres.

It comes after Newcastle deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen said he arranged for council's arborist to inspect trees pruned in Chilcott Street, Lambton last year, who found the pruning work was not consistent with the Australian Standard AS4373-2007 Pruning of Amenity Trees.

The arborist found cuts were left ragged with torn edges on pruning wounds, leaving the trees susceptible to disease and decay.

Cr Clausen said he had escalated the latest pruning jobs in Cooks Hill for review as well.

It comes after an independent survey of 500 trees in Newcastle pruned by an Ausgrid contractor found 91 per cent had been pruned excessively and did not comply with Australian standards, while Ausgrid data showed about half of the city's tree located under powerlines were classified as 'unsuitable'.

"Ausgrid's overly aggressive pruning practices are causing significant harm to the health of our street trees and putting public safety at risk," Cr Clausen said.

"Both city arborists and independent experts have confirmed that Ausgrid's pruning is more aggressive than what is necessary to maintain the safety of the electricity network, resulting in severe damage to our street trees.

"Cooks Hill is known for its beautiful tree-lined streets and the city has been working with the community to increase the number of street trees through the use of suitable plant species that can thrive under power lines.

"This also requires us to work sensitively to protect our mature trees planted by well-meaning residents and former councils in past decades."

Cr Clausen said he understood the need to prune trees around power lines to ensure the reliability of electricity supply, but said it must be done in accordance with relevant Australian standards.

An Ausgrid spokesperson said its contractors pruned council owned vegetation to the Australian Standard AS4373 Pruning of Amenity Trees and council had not raised any current concerns with Ausgrid regarding tree trimming.

Newcastle Greens councillor John Mackenzie raised a notice of motion in November to support an Ausgrid proposal for co-funding aerial bundled cable upgrades in collaboration with councils, which would have resulted in a $603,000 program, funded equally between Ausgrid and council.

A motion of support for the proposal was passed at the Local Government of NSW 2022 conference.

Aerial bundled cables are insulated overhead power lines, which allow trees to grow closer to them and be more precisely pruned than around bare wires.

Newcastle Labor councillors argued council should not be burdened by the cost of upgrading Ausgrid assets, with Cr Clausen instead successfully moving for council to submit to Ausgrid's draft plan 2024-2029 asking for a "fair" funding program for the cabling.

Council's submission said the draft plan needed to provide more information and detail on what measures Ausgrid proposed to put in place that would decrease the burden on communities, particularly local government.

"More detail is required on how this investment will work in relation to the issue City of Newcastle (CN) has consistently faced with Ausgrid contractors poor practice of tree pruning under powerlines," the submission said.

Ausgrid said it intended to retain the proposal in its current form and if approved by the Australian Energy Regulator, council would still have the opportunity to decide if it wants to participate.

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