THE conservation of an historic, leafy-landmark in Tamworth could be all for naught without an irrigation system, one advocate says.
Sixty new English Oaks have been ordered for King George V Avenue after a hot, dry summer wreaked havoc on the younger trees.
Long-time champion of the avenue, David McKinnon, said a watering system would be critical to keep the trees alive and to keep conservation sustainable.
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Mr McKinnon said a number of trees were only making it halfway through their life-cycles on the back of previous pruning programs and the heat.
“The summers appear to be getting hotter and it doesn’t suit the English Oaks,” he said.
The 60 new oaks have been placed on order and Mr McKinnon said they would aim to plant the new trees in winter.
Joe Campbell has been watering the smaller trees during summer, but he was sceptical about installing an irrigation system.
“I don’t know how they’d do it or where they’d pull the water from,” Mr Campbell said.
The Tamworth man goes down once every five days to water the smaller trees the group planted last August.
He said he did it “out of the goodness” of his heart because the summer’s “hot weather was just burning off the little trees”.
Mr Campbell waters the trees from a 500 gallon tank on the back of his ute and said he was happy to keep giving the trees a drink until a better system comes along.
Avenue resident Carmel Madirazza said her street was looking brilliant at the moment, following the recent rains.
Also a member of the working group, she said purchasing 60 new trees was the only way to go after the avenue had been “neglected for many years”.
She said it was important to keep it looking great, because the avenue was for everyone in town.
“We fought very hard to keep it,” she said.
“So to see mums and dads with kids or people just walking or running down there is great.”
The new trees have been purchased from a combination of grant funding, received to assist with the implementation of the management plan, as well as matching funding from Tamworth Regional Council’s 2017/18 budget.
Council received $30,000 heritage grant from the state government to carry out its plan.
Jacob McArthur
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
