3 days ago
Environmentalists sound alarm over plan to remove 500 trees next to national park
Environmentalists are raising the alarm over a plan to remove 500 trees from a development adjacent to a national park in Sydney's north-west.
Developer ISPT is planning a data centre on an industrial plot of land in North Ryde, which backs onto Lane Cove National Park.
The site was cleared in 2009 for a development that never went ahead.
About 200 of the trees that have been slated for removal are ones that grew back in the previously cleared area.
Local conservationists said many of the other 300 were mature trees that provided hollows for birds and animals.
"They take 100 years or more to develop," Friends of Lane Cove National Park president Tony Butteris told 702 ABC Radio Sydney.
"They're important because they are right next to the park and it's a habitat corridor.
"What we're saying is let's look at it again. You can still get the development there without taking so many trees out."
ISPT claims to have been the first property company to become carbon neutral in 2020.
A spokesperson for the company said in a statement that it would be offsetting the tree removal by planting 750 new native Australian trees.
The company also said it would be providing access walkways and viewing platforms to the national park.
"While we are always reluctant to remove existing flora … we will be implementing an offset tree re-planting program," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the company was willing to consult with the Friends of Lane Cove National Park to discuss their concerns.
However, Mr Butteris said new trees would not have the same value as the old trees on the site.
"'Pull them down and plant another sapling over the way' doesn't really do the trick," Mr Butteris said.
The data centre has been assessed as a state-significant development by the state's planning department.
