THE last remnants of the fallen 20-metre high Claret Ash tree at the Cave Gardens in Mount Gambier were removed yesterday by Mount Gambier City Council workers.
The historic 70-year-old tree – the largest in the Cave Gardens precinct – succumbed to wind gusts of more than 70kph on Sunday morning following a storm sweeping through the city on Saturday night.
Emergency services personnel quickly arrived on the scene at around 10.30am and scoured the site to ensure there were no people trapped under the fallen branches.
According to council, the massive tree was given the all clear in an independent arborist report just two weeks ago.
The incident comes just days before potentially thousands of people are expected to flood into the Cave Gardens for the Fringe in Mount Gambier festival this Friday and Saturday.
While the suitability of the stump needs to be determined, council has not ruled out exploring whether the giant stump remaining on the site can be carved into a public art piece.
Council infrastructure general manager Nick Serle said council engaged an independent arborist to inspect and assess all trees in public spaces throughout Mount Gambier on a regular basis.
“The latest report was delivered less than two weeks ago and indicated that while the tree was old, it was stable,” Mr Serle said.
He said the report – received on March 8 – recommended no action needed to be taken with regard to the particular tree or other trees in the Cave Gardens.
Given the historic nature of the tree, Mr Serle said council did “everything it possibly could” to retain this tree over the years.
“The tree has always been found to be structurally sound and healthy, however, due to its size and age, cable bracing was added to its limbs about 12 years ago to provide additional support between multiple branches of the tree,” he said.
Regarding the future of the stump, Mr Serle said council would consider community comments posted on social media calling for it to be carved into a public art piece.
“Councillors may wish to consider this in the near future depending on the suitability of the stump for this purpose,” he said.
The tree was inspected as part of a wider assessment of trees in public spaces across Mount Gambier.
In recognition of the historic value of the tree, council will retain the larger tree limbs during the clean-up process for potential sawmilling.
“We plan to save as much of the timber as we can to potentially reuse in the Cave Gardens or elsewhere,” Mr Serle said.
“The smaller branches left over will be mulched and used around the city.”
Mount Gambier State Emergency Service unit manager Simon Poel said three-quarters of the tree was on the ground when crews arrived.
He said personnel removed one hanging part of the tree to ensure public safety.
Mr Poel confirmed crews initially scoured the area to ensure there were no people trapped underneath, which was protocol during these incidents.
“Our crew was at the Cave Gardens for about one and a half hours,” he said.
Meanwhile, SES crews were kept busy on the weekend due to the strong winds that buffeted the region.
He said crews responded to nine call-outs on Sunday and yesterday morning.
The incidents included damage to a horse stable roof at Wepar and flashing coming off a church roof at Port MacDonnell.
SES crews also removed a number of trees that fell onto roads in the Glencoe district.
Mr Poel said crews were stretched given some members were volunteering at the South East Field Days at Lucindale.
