The felling of trees along Harewood Avenue has been temporarily halted following an admission from the City of Cape Town that the trees were misidentified as English oaks when they were actually Turkish oaks.
According to ward councillor Gregory Peck, the Alien Invasive Species Unit apologised for the felling of five Turkish oaks, and despite being infested with the Polyphagous Shothole Borer (PSHB) beetle the trees are not listed as an invasive species.
“The Turkish oaks were damaged and had to be felled as well as a row of large beefwood trees along a boundary wall on Harewood Avenue,” stated Peck, who also clarified that not only did the City along with himself have a meetings with residents of Helderberg Estate on Sunday 22 May last year regarding the situation, but there were also other public meetings in the town hall and at the Helderberg Nature Reserve, where many groups of residents were engaged and explained the procedures the City of Cape Town is using to curb the spread of the PSHB beetle.
This follows an outcry by the community when trees were being felled along Harewood Avenue in Somerset West three weeks ago (“Fuss over felling of beetle-infested trees in Somerset West”, DistrictMail & Helderberg Gazette, 20 September).
“As this is a new invasive pest lots are still being learnt about it, and continuous changes have to be made to the procedures,” said Peck, who met again with residents last week. “The City’s invasive team is also still learning.
“At the meeting I called to engage with residents led by Professor Dirk Bellstedt, it was agreed there will be a moratorium on the felling of Turkish oaks, and the invasive species team will monitor the tree and if the infestation increases a meeting will be called to decide on the way forward.”
Peck reiterated he kindly requested that residents not engage with the contractor or their staff who are felling trees.
“The machinery they work with is noisy and dangerous,” he said.
“They are all wearing protective ear mufflers so do not always hear or see a person near to them. Please contact me or the City’s Alien Invasive Species Unit to report your concerns.”
According to Bellstedt, the City is also removing beefwoods from pavements and grey poplars from parks and river courses.
“Here in Helderberg Estate, in Harewood Park, contractors of the Alien Invasive Species Unit have felled at least 50 poplars over the past three weeks and they intend on removing more from the park,” he said.
“Besides being heavily infested with PSBH, these poplars are on the NEMBA alien invaders list so opposition to this has little chance of success.
“However, there is one important tree that everyone needs to know the rules about, and that is the Turkish oak. Turkish oaks are resistant to mildew and stem rot and were planted, especially in Stellenbosch, for this very reason. They do get infested with PSHB, but they are showing good resistance against it.
“Residents were correct in stopping the removal of the Turkish oaks. I would like to point out to all residents that Turkish oaks are not to be removed. Contractors are paid for tree removal and it appears that they are keen to cut down trees because they get paid for the removal, so residents need to be vigilant when they are in the area. Turkish oaks are a no-go, and there are quite a few that have been planted in Somerset West.”
