A DA to construct 22 self storage units has been lodged for the old milk
depot site on Belvedere St in Kiama. Residents are expressing concern that
the application also calls for the removal of all of the 36 trees on the site.

“I don’t have a problem with the site being developed, just with the trees being cut down,” says nearby resident Camilla Kerr Ruston. “I’m concerned that with the development of Elimatta Place the valley has already lost many mature trees that provide habitat for wildlife.

“The developer’s own arborist report identifies that 13 of the 36 trees are of high significance in the landscape and seven are of medium significance.

“The trees also act as a barrier for noise from the adjacent Council depot.”

Given this, she is at a loss to understand why the Environmental Report lodged with the DA it says that, in pre-lodgement discussions, “Council noted that the trees on the site do not have significant retention value”.

“I’ve beem urging people to lodge their objection to the removal of the trees before the exhibition deadline.”

A Council spokesman said that the DA was still being assessed, and changes to the Tree Preservation Policy endorsed at the December Meeting do not have relevance to the trees on that site.