A Sign of Things to Come for Tree Vandals

The Trust, supported by the City of Melville, erected a 3m by 1.8m sign in front of the damage on Burke Drive, Attadale to warn vandals that this type of destruction will not be tolerated.

Other councils have adopted similar strategies, however, this sign is the first environmental vandal sign that the Trust has put up.

Mayor Katherine Jackson said the City of Melville was outraged by the damage that had occurred along the foreshore. “This deliberate act of vandalism has occurred over a period of six to 10 weeks, with more than a dozen trees being damaged,” she said. “We need to take the appropriate action to make sure we get the message across that this behaviour will not be tolerated. We understand that the people who have the sign in front of their house may not have been involved in the vandalism but we had to take a strong stance.”

To help preserve the natural habitat of the area and assist community groups such as the Friends of Attadale Foreshore who work tirelessly to restore and care for this area, the sign will remain in place until the new vegetation has regrown.

In the past year, one person has been prosecuted over the destruction of foreshore vegetation and there are currently six pending cases. Foreshore vegetation has also been destroyed in Applecross, Dalkeith, Maylands, Mosman Park and South Perth.

Swan River Trust Chairman Charlie Welker said this new strategy aimed to change people’s behaviour and stop them harming the environment. “The trust has been encouraging the community to respect the rivers and foreshores for many months,” he said. “However, certain members of the public have ignored us, killing native trees and vegetation on the Swan and Canning foreshores for their own benefit.”

The City of Melville is encouraging all residents to report any acts of environmental vandalism to the Swan River Trust on 9278 0900 or after hours on 0419 192 845.