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NOVEMBER 15, 2024
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Page 15
Iconic trees face chop
Parking petition backed l CAIRNS NORTH | Nick Dalton
Residents fight to save 70-year-old figs l WHITE ROCK | Nick Dalton RESIDENTS and environmentalists have launched a campaign to save three large fig trees at White Rock from being axed. Cairns and Far North Environment Centre’s (CAFNEC) Tree Action Group (TAG) is concerned that developer Kenfrost will justify removing the trees
by claiming their management is cost prohibitive. CAFNEC community organiser Monique Jeffs said the Cairns planning scheme claimed to be about ‘tropical urbanism’, “but this doesn’t seem to stop large, mature trees providing shade, habitat values and visual amenity from being removed as a first response rather than being maintained and protected”.
White Rock residents (from left) Dorothea Grey and Leslie Sparks with CAFNEC’s Monique Jeffs in front of one of the Links Drive figs. Picture: Nick Dalton
“At a time of increasing temperatures and record high instances of heat-related illnesses, every attempt should be made to preserve our significant shade trees, however, the (council) and developers appear to consider large trees to be an inconvenience,” she said. Ms Jeffs said the fig trees in Links Drive were estimated to be more than 70-years-old. They are used by native
species for hunting (black butcherbirds and kookaburras) and are also a source of food during spring and summer for fig birds. They provide shade and cool the area and stabilise the soil during floods and wet season. White Rock resident Leslie Sparks said the trees were “really important to the local community”.
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A UNION is backing a registered nurse’s campaign to improve the parking crisis around Cairns Hospital. The Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union (QNMU) is supporting Natasha Kelly’s petition, pleading with Cairns Regional Council to go easy on parking enforcement and look at ways to improve parking for staff, outpatients, visitors and the general public. Her petition has garnered 1146 signatures to date. (Visit https://bit.ly/3CpbyZo). QNMU secretary Sarah Beaman said the union had recently been made aware of the petition and the parking concerns around the hospital. “QNMU’s foremost priority remains the health, wellbeing, and professional safety of nurses and healthcare professionals, ensuring they have the necessary support and resources to provide high-quality care,” she said. “This includes workplaces providing access to appropriate facilities and amenities for the nurses and midwives they employ. “QNMU advocates that workplaces should provide free, accessible, safe and secure car parking for all nurses and midwives attending for work.” CONTINUED PAGE 3
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