IF Colin Barnett chopped down trees from gazetted areas on his farm, he would face hefty fines and risk jail.
But he's getting away with the destruction of 100 magnificent trees in the Perth foreshore heritage area. These Moreton Bay Figs have been around for half the life of the WA colony, yet are deemed expendable.
They will be far more sorely missed than trees cleared from a farm. This is nothing short of vandalism.
It is also vandalism to cut the vital east-west traffic artery of Riverside Drive. Four lanes of Riverside Drive carrying more than 30,000 vehicles daily won't fit into the two emergency lanes of Northbridge Tunnel.
The tunnel is already utterly congested at both ends, even outside of peak hours. Forcing more traffic on to Orrong Road and the Graham Farmer Freeway can only result in all-day tunnel jams.
It is vandalism to disrupt Perth’s clear foreshore views extending from Heirisson Island to Kings Park. The dramatic demarcation line between tall buildings along Terrace Road/The Esplanade and parklands (reminiscent of Central Park, New York) will be broken.
Perth has a fine entry statement here for travellers arriving via The Causeway, but not for much longer.
Air shows and Red Bull races based from Langley Park will be a thing of the past, due to office and apartment tower obstruction of the aircraft runway take-off zone. That’s more vandalism.
Turning the foreshore recreational green used for relaxing, walking, jogging and sport into a noisy, dusty, congested building site for many years to come, and after that, a muddy inlet hemmed in by concrete and glass towers, is again, best described as vandalism.
Also, why is WA taxpayer money subsidising by two-thirds the cheap building sites for big business? This is vandalism of WA public finances.