In a revealing report confirmed by the Department of Education it has been known that more than 500 trees including some old and precious trees have been chopped down at NSW schools on the grounds of safety following the death of an eight year old schoolgirl from a falling branch. $13 million has been spent in so called ‘tree safety works’ since the incident. The program has come under serious criticism from all environmentally conscious citizens and arborists as in most cases the risk factor cited by the education authority is groundless.
The safety issue which was raised by the Education Department began when a 7 meter long falling branch took the life of Bridget Wright, an eight year old schoolgirl at Pitt Town Public School. The incident occurred during the lunch hour at the school and injured two other students and a teacher of the school. The visiting arborist Mark Hartley said that such an outrageous effort to prevent fatality from tree branches is absolutely groundless and would only damage ecological balance.
He mentioned that the mortality rate from such an accident is as low as one in 30 million student lives. He directly dubbed such fear as inconceivable and compared the situation with a knee-jerk one. If environmental damage is one issue for which everyone is accusing Education Department, then obviously the huge expenditure is also drawing criticism from all corners.
