Wonderful old growth trees are about to be felled for the Gundaroo Drive duplication. I live near Gundaroo Drive and I admit to being annoyed at the crowded narrow road and lack of foresight by ACT government when the
old Crace farm became suburbia. I admit to being glad, at last, that they are constructing a road wide enough to cope with the population explosion out here. But I am sad for a number of reasons to see that this requires the removal of trees perhaps two centuries
old.
These trees include an ancient Yellow Box and several old Eucalypts, one of which has that
highly unusual spiral bark. They are attractive old trees and among the few remaining trees with constantly-used nesting hollows. Another sadness is that these trees hold the last memories of this end the old Gundaroo Road, almost certainly
trees that were preserved because they were roadside trees. Some bits of the old road were still traceable near them before Crace suburb was built and a little remains in Forde.
The time to preserve these old trees would have been when the suburbs and road infrastructure were first being planned but that was driven by financial arrangements with minimum costs. It has been too late for some years
now. There is nowhere sensible now for the duplication to go.
The trees all have notices on them announcing their removal and giving a number to ring. I admit I will be glad of the road improvement but I will shed a tear when short-sighted bureaucracy finally takes the trees.
