Bless you Barbara and Stan (Stanislaw).  We’ll always celebrate Barbara’s particular conservation commitment legacy, with her husband Stan always by her side.  Barbara, a beautiful tireless activist leader so jointly committed to unwavering passion to protect the values of  Nature and with total  support from her devoted life husband Stan.   We personally share such unwavering commitment.

My personal tribute to you both for you joint wonderful generous passionate conservation campaigns out of Bendigo to championing Nature by itself and Nature Conservation as I came to realise had become her lifetime dedication.  Beautiful.  I also personally thank you with Stan both for your encouragement, generous donations towards The Habitat Advocate and then for your kind hospitality to me and my wife in your home upon our agreed call-in visit to Bendigo back in 2016.  

Our experience was such a warm encounter with you and Stan and such a wonderful opportunity for my wife and I during our road travels to venture out of our way to finally meet up with you both face-to-face generously in your home in Bendigo at your invitation.  Marvellous memory!

Thank you very much for your life dedication to conserving Australian forest ecology.  Some people are very special well beyond their backyard and indeed beyond just across the street.  God Bless your shared passion for Nature.

 

 

Conclusion.

 

“When we are healthy, we tend to be unaware of the presence of our organs in our bodies and of the functions they perform. Only when one of our organs fails and we have to replace its functions by artificial means do we become aware of how valuable and well performed its function was.

It seems to us that our attitude to the natural environment is the same as it is to our bodies. The air conditioner, water purifiers and desalination plants should make us aware of the value of the services our natural ecosystems provide us with (Constanza et al 1997 estimated the value of world’s ecosystem services as being more than double the global gross national product, remarking that in a sense it is infinite, as without it economy would grind to a halt). Yet somehow we fail or refuse to see the connection. The danger is that when eventually we wake up to it, it will be too late to stop the consequences of our abuse of the environment.

It is for this reason that we have included the issue of cultural maladaptation in our submission.  Because a number of important issues, including those relating specifically to the Fraser Island’s dingo and to Bendigo region as well to the ecological reasons for rejecting COAG’s proposal for handing Federal Government’s responsibility for environmental approval to the states are covered in the two submissions to the Committee we are endorsing, we have decided not to duplicate them in our submission.

Finally we would like to draw the Committee’s attention to two books, “Legacy”(Suzuki 2010) and “Resetting the Compass”(Yencken and Wilkinson 2000, in particular chapter 13, “The four pillars of wisdom”), as they explain in a very comprehensive way the issues we have raised in our submission.”

 

by Stanislaw Pelczynski and Barbara Pelczynska

 

 

 

 

---

 

References and Further Reading:

 

[1]  ‘Life’s just full of fun‘, 2008-05-20, by Bendigo Advertiser (newspaper, Victoria, Australia), ^https://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/689901/lifes-just-full-of-fun/  (access by subscription only)

 

[2]  ‘Submission on the Effectiveness of Threatened Species and Ecological Communities’ Protection in Australia‘, 2012-12-10, by Barbara and Stanislaw Pelczynski,

 

 

The sad euthanasic demise of our rural ‘Shaggy’ – our harmless verge May Bush (Spiraea cantoniensis). 

Some hateful vindictive ‘anonymous’ incoming ex-Sydney newcomer has targeted as urban improper and complained to Council that it be killed as ‘un-urban’.  Sydney urban invaders of this rural bush streetscape bullying imposing their urban dogma yet again.  So, go back to high-rised mass immigration Sydney as you are not welcome in the Australian Blue Mountains!

This is the article we wrote following that nasty threat by Blue Mountains Council out-of-the-blue to attack our verge coppice.

 

Blue Mountains Council threatening letter is bureaucratic ignorant bullying

 

Civil community co-operation by Council, NOT!

 

This is our lush shady verge.  

 

It was just bare grass when we bought in 2000.  ‘Leave the place better than you found it’ – my grandfather was a farmer.  Such is a core lore of land stewardship, and the scouting movement.

This was like our grass verge back in 2000 when we bought the property.   Apparently as residents, we had to mow this Council verge!?!   I had hayfever, so wifies had to.

 

 

The verge grass was never mown by Council, which is chronic neglect in our semi-rural residential heritage precinct.  Yet Council’s cultural mindset demands without any legitimacy that residents mow Council’s verges (nature strips) outside their properties.  This governmental staid one-size-fits-all pendant urbane mindset needs to change.

‘Shaggy’ our verge May Bush is shown on the right of the pole, when ‘Shaggy’ was still a blooming youngtser of Mountains character.  Note the unusual reverse juxtaposition of the footpath and the verge.

We had planted this verge (nature strip) out in 2002 from what had been neglected for decades as Council’s unkempt grass lawn that they required us to mow it for bloody Council on their behalf.  Bugger that for a joke!  So the invasive grass went to Mars and we redesigned it mostly Native, landscaped it, kept it neat and tidy and had it maintained regularly to be safely clear of the overhead powerlines over the past 25 years.  It just made sense.  Council didn’t communicate a tuppenny shite. This verge design initiative provided the only shade and coolness in our street from the damaging hot summer afternoon sun (westerly left of photo) so car owners parking have long valued it. 

Then some anonymous pedant from ‘big smoke’ concrete Sydney complained about wheel chair access.  In our bushy area? What crap!   Then someone anonymous chose to vandalise our May Bush when we weren’t home.  

 

 

Give the brushcutting right angled military cut right on next door’s boundary.  Mmm, we suspect these new hissy-fitting newcomers adjacent from high-rise Sydney.  They’re threatened us previously with laser trimming to the boundary like the prior pollarding witch did.   It’s straight of the Book of Luke.

 

 

So, Council demanded that we kill our verge May Bush ‘Shaggy’ plus cut back our mature native lemon-scented tea tree, to somehow provide wheelchair access along our footpath. 

 

 

 

All ignoring the bloody elephant in the footpath mind you….  Try getting a wheelchair around this obstacle… 

 

 

Our entire old 1870s-heritage residential precinct is has bugger all footpaths, and frankly it’s just the way us Katoomba locals like it – rural, leafy and bushy!    We’ve never seen a wheelchair in our street or neighbourhood during our 26 years to date!

So with no joy trying to talkk to Council bureaucrats we tried to contact and complain about this bureacratic pedant urbanisation to our local Ward 1 Councillors – Cr Sarah Redshaw, Cr Suzie Van Opdorp and Cr Suzanne Jamieson.  Fat lot of good that did!   Their all Labor hacks!  Think Labor’s mass immigration driving housing unaffordability and more Hong Kong congestion downunder.

 

 

Council’s ordered killing of our May Bush cost us over $800 out of pocket, including:

1. 1. Us engaging a specialist contractor to remove (kill) the May Bush (our ‘Shaggy‘).   |  Cost: $450
   2. Us engaging a specialist contractor to stump grind the root ball.   | Cost:  $200
   3. Buying two replacement camilias with suitable fertilizers.  | Cost:  $180.
   4. Our time and effort to then re-dig the soil patch of (1m(W) x 1m (L) x 0.3m (D) = 0.3 m³ 
   5. Our time and effort to then replce the soil and landscape the rock surround and replant the verge with Camilias

 

 

 

This destruction supposedly to appease some anonymous newcomer nearby from obvious the city who demands a city streetscape. 

 

Be known, we’re hereby placing a set of street CCTVs up and that anonymous individual passer-by complainant of our May Bush we again observe damaging vegetation will be up on the Internet before you can say Jack Robinson.

 

Just weeks later our verge it has just been decimated by ignorants of Asplundh who deserve to live in concrete treeless Penrith/Glendenning relying instead upon airconditioning.  So passive solar design, eh!  Go the fake Greens (socialist Reds!)  

 

 

May be we plant an attractive red spiky Japanese Flowering Quince bush (chaenomeles-japonica) where Shaggy was?

 

 

 

The large bush on the right was our ‘Shaggy’ – our May Bush.  Being a northern hemisphere shrub it flowered in Spring with is May in the northern hemisphere.  But in Australia in the southern hemisphere it flowers also in spring in October.   The flowers were small white and when it was in full bloom every late October the appearance was like a giant fizzgig.

 

 

 

But then some anonymous urbane local newcomer to our leafy Blue Mountains (likely from inner concrete inner Sydney) complained to Blue Mountains Council that our May Bush was over-generous to the 1.2 metre (military standard?) rural footpath.

Obviously that pedant owns a pet rock and a chainsaw – a botanophobic!   Given recent damage problems in our street, we shall be installing half a dozen high definition colour infrared battery CCTV cameras strategically in our street shortly, and not the cheap Chinese ones. 

Compare the 2000 purchase of this (low-base) property’s scene some 26 years ago when we had just bought the property:

 

The land value would not be what it is in 2026.  So Council would not be since reaping the value-adding spoils from its rate hikes from then being $772.55 annually to in 2026 being $2285.34 – a 300% lazy gain.  Blue Mountains Council has for time immemorial exploited its local ratepayers, especially its NAZI1957 forced evictions of the poor locals out of the The Gully.  A shameful record that Blue Mountains Council continues to culturally shun its complicity and guilt. 

Some old locals never forget.

 

---

 

POSTSCRIPTS:

 

POSTCRIPT #1:    OUR REPLY TO COUNCIL’S NAZI VERGE GESTAPO

 

Attention:  Mr Bhabuk Gajurel
Program Leader Inspections & Maintenance
Transport and Public Access (department)
Blue Mountains Council
2-6 Civic Place
KATOOMBA NSW 2780

Saturday 11th July 2026

 

Dear Mr Gajurel,

 

RE:  “Pedestrian Hazard” Claim by Council – Verge in front of 5 Kundibar St, Katoomba NSW 2780 – my complaint CSR 665885

 

I refer to you following up my request that you and your manager Nicole Hume attend onsite inspection with your colleague Chris on Wednesday 17^th June 2026.   Pity you did not notify  me of the timing and just turned up unannounced, and without Nicole Hume.

I appreciate your follow up email notification 30 June 2026 to me about this verge matter now being permanently closed by Council. (.JPG copy attached)  I presume that your email is also a follow up to you conducting a second following onsite inspection of this subject verge outside my property after I had acted upon Council’s request to remove the May Bush and trim the two limbs of the Tea Tree as agreed.  If so, again I was not contacted and not aware of any second onsite visit to inspect the vegetation trimming/removal.

I personally trimmed the Tea Tree and also contracted Greg Roberts Trees to remove the May Bush to the stump ground level and then a second contractor to stump grind the remaining vegetation of the May Bush verge section to below ground level.  I attach the relevant photos for Council’s reference.  These were your agreed actions for me to undertake when you first visited.

 

I make the following comments to this matter:

1. We have done the verge trimming as Council has requested of us.
2. I disagree that such trimming was necessary from the outset. My residence is in a semi-bushland setting, and such military pollard trimming demand by Council I consider to be absurdly pedantic given the rural streetscape of our old residential precinct. 
3. This residential precinct, labelled ‘North’s Estate’ dates from the 1870s and is the oldest residential subdivision in the Blue Mountains LGA. It is designated by the NSW Government as a Heritage Conservation Area.   
4. Public access silo mentality
5. Our property is one of few in this North’s Estate precinct seeming lucky to have a footpath at all! Are we not bordering environmental wilderness World Heritage?  We are not bloody military precinct or inner Sydney treeless “CITY”?  We are not Glenmore Park nor Pyrmont! 
6. You state in our conversations that our property was singularly targeted out by some anonymous complainant for verge trimming. May be I should try that method on someone whom I might have a personal vendetta with?  And we’ve experienced a few bad apples round these parts of late.  Such is the immoral manner in which Blue Mountains Council seems to have heaved in this petty one-sided matter.  
7. You have stated in your letter of 8^th May 2026 for us to trim our verge to some fabricated military type right angled precision (1.2m wide by 2m high) . Yet, whilst your letter dictated the footpath’s minimum clearance dimensions (above) you provided no by-law or basis for such.  Did you just make this ruling arbitrarily in your head? 
8. Council’s process in this matter has been a case of unwarranted ‘big brother’ bullying from on high in my opinion and its written order is anonymous so therefore baseless and unjustified.
9. The verge is Council property so your written threat of for Council to have otherwise do so and charge us the fee was intimidating and invalid. 
10. It is hypocritical that Council neglects the verges it technically has community custodial responsibility for, yet ignores their maintenance – typically many such verges are traditionally grassed lawns, yet Council does not mow them, rather its expects residents adjoining to do Council’s job and at the residents’ time and expense. Council’s verge ‘trimming’ in our semi-bushland residential precinct holds an ongoing neglectful history of grass lawn mowing of its verges/nature strips.  Other nearby residents have similarly complained.  Our verge has not once been mowed by Council since we moved here in 2001.
11. Such Council neglect over the years became an incentive for us to remove the unmaintained grassed verge lawn completely. At our own time and cost we replaced the grass with a mixed native garden bed mostly of locally indigenous native species and with local sandstone landscaping. It has been since maintenance free!  No cost to anyone else including Council.  It has positively added new privacy,  car parking shade, plus the native birds frequent the trees within.
12. The verge vegetation work ordered by Council has cost us personally about $1000 out of pocket for the May Bush removal associated stump grinding and purchase of replacement shrubs for this verge section.
13. We have chosen two white Camillias (Camellia sasanqua) to replace the May Bush and English Boxes, if this so pleases our beloved Council. May be we could receive a Council rates rebate from Blue Mountain Council promptly for this amount as compensation.
14. Following your letter of 8^th May 2026 to us, on 6^th June 2026 we first observed that someone unknown had edge trimmed a deep vertical corner section of the May Bush from top to ground. A large vertical chunk (30cm square section) was cut exactly at the border of our adjoining neighbours of 3 Kundibar Street. We received no warning or notice of this.  But the trimming created a public safety hazard since May Bushes cannot be trimmed like say English Box trees since it only leaves very  sharp inner branch pointy ends that pose an injury risk to passing pedestrians (unlike the soft small leaves of the May Bush exterior).  Clearly we have a vandal in our midst.
15. We have lived at this address since 2001. Council knows me personally on its record from many past correspondences – mostly regrettable in my experience, especially in relation to this precinct, Katoomba Falls Creek Valley (The Gully).
16. Your initial written letter ‘out-of-the-blue’ to my letterbox dated 8^th May 2026 to us was a shock, inappropriate and threatening about Council’s order for us to do pruning work itself then sending me some open ended bill charge with consequential ‘Big Brother’ legal action had I not done it myself. Such poor communication to a ratepaying resident perhaps cannot get worse. In my view you need remedial training in customer service courtesy skills, and your comment that my letter was one of 20 or more standard/roneoed letters to others suggests a lazy one-size-fits-all approach, indeed is Council heading to an AI outsourcing approach to communicate with its customer ratepayers now?
17. I pointed out to you and your colleague Chris on your initial onsite inspection that Council has for many years ignored repairing its footpath on the corner of Kundibar and Warriga Streets (photo attached). So Council’s personal targeting of our verge claiming fabricated and false concerns about public safety and access is completely hypocritical.
18. Our Council ‘Rates and Charges’ back in 2001 were annually $772.55. They have over the years snowballed to a current $2285.34 p.a. So without tempting some AI algorithm, I reckon that our average annual rates would approximate $1500.  So over our 26 years to date Council has reaped about $40k out of us.  Frankly, I don’t think we’re getting our money’s worth.  Likely that figure wouldn’t even pay for Council’s consultants or legal fees for one month.
19. I am disappointed that Council and particularly the three Ward 1 councillors, to whom I escalated this matter to, have been wholly silent in response. What is the point of serving on Council or becoming a representative for your local constituents if you do nothing when constituent raises a local matter of concern?
20. Yes, I am a Conservation Activist. I have published this article on the Internet: https://habitatadvocate.com.au/blue-mountains-council-threatening-letter-is-bureaucratic-ignorant-bullying/
21. I suggest that Council needs to apologise to us over this unnecessary petty drama and pull its head in.
22. I reserve the right after all this, to go similarly public again on this matter as a follow up. It may encourage other Blue Mountains residents to also express their own views about such bullying treatment as they see fit. In time the due negative publicly could implicate Blue Mountains Council appropriately well more than this petty verge matter it raised from some anonymous source.

 

 

 

Blue Mountains Council’s response:

 

 

POSTCRIPT #2:    OUR REPLY TO COUNCIL’S NAZI VERGE GESTAPO

 

Asplundh meathead vandal attacks our property causing malicious damage

 

 

 

 

As if our Katoomba Falls Creek Valley (The Gully) in the Blue Mountains of Australia hasn’t copped enough callous deforestation over the many decades? 

We previously copped Blue Mountains Council’s outsourced ‘JJ Richards‘ garbage truck meathead that had drove through our verge, then Council’s verge police, now its Asplundh’s meathead lumberjacks taking a crack at us.    WTF!

Last week some Kiwi ‘bevan’ wantonly killed our verge ornamental autumnal pear tree.  Was he on the turps?

 

 

We called our pear tree ‘Russet‘ (after the French pear variety) for its beautiful leaf colouring through autumn and its gift of recurring growth back to us providing us with hedge privacy, summer shade and attractive autumnal folliage. 

One planted our tree back in 2002. One nurtured it, watered it, yes had it duly trimmed every six months to safely stay growing below the electric overhead power lines above.  We acknowledged and accepted the tree’s height trimming with Origin Energy then Endeavour Energy every six months amicably since 2012.  That’s our initiated agrement for the past fourteen years.

 

 

But Russet’s now dead; killed by Asplundh’s meathead driver and they quickly dismembered it and all evidence in their Asplundh’s Bandit woodchipper…

 

 

Lumberjack Asplundh’s meathead vandals wantonly attacked our property last week causing substantial malicious damage.   Some Kiwi driver in the trimming crew driving the Asplundh truck came back after the power line trimming job to reverse hard back into where he had been crashing with deliberate force into our 25 year of old Pear Tree, taking it out completely.   WTF?

The image above and below show the extent of that wanton damage.  Of course the property owner didn’t ask for such proprty damage.  The property owner had planted this pear tree back in 2002 over quarter of a Century ago and has diligently maintained it to comply with Endeavour Energy’s tree clearance rules ever since.  Such overhead power lines clearance arrangement had all been amicable up until 12:45pm on Thursday 9th July 2026.

On Thursday 9th July 2026, NSW Government’s outsourced electricity provider Endeavour Energy decided to get its Swedish lumberjack ‘Asplundh’ to do its ‘tree trimming’ so-called.

This round it had its New Zealand backpacker boofheads do the job on the property. 

 

When will the electricity be installed underground?  That would have obviated the need for tree trimming entirely.  Indeed, we did so back in 2013 – both power and phoneline as can be partially seen in the above image of the galvanised steel cover down the pole.  So providing us with no above-ground wiring from the street to our property.  That effort cost us over $6000 at the time with a qualified Ausgrid contractor.  It’s called proper planning.

So, after the Endeavor Energy vegetation timming job had been done by Asplundh, its Hi-Viz ranga leprechaun (some imported Kiwi backpacker) came back and deliberately reversed his truck into our verge and took out a mature tree completely.   This is the damage – entire tree killed!  Wham bam!

 

Click to play this actual video:   ScreenRecording_07-16-2026 12-51-16_1 (1)

 

Kundibar Armageddon!

 

 

This shard image resonated.  I have personally onsite witnessed the holocaust of Tasmania’s Stix Valley ancient giants first hand back in 2011.

 

 

 

 

This valley pre-colonisation, actually used to be a rainforest pre-John Britty North’s deforestation of the 1870s.  So, one terms what we did on our wee patch by first removing all the grassed lawn on the property is our wee gesture of reforestation.   We’ve certainly observed (and heard) more native birdlife being appreciative.

The following image shows a similar example of what we started with:

 

 

Back in 2002, one contacted Council about its unkemp grass verge out the front of our place to propose we replace the grass with native plants and they had no issue.  Ok, good.  So, for this 16 metre verge length of about 1 metre wide (inside from the footpath mind you against our front boundary) we set about removing all the grass down to the roots, digging up the compacted soil and improving it, and adding soil to a raised level, then planting as many ferns shrubs and a few trees as would be allowed as ‘reforestation‘.  Better than deforestation. 

But just at a coppice scale, given that the property’s block area is under a quarter of an acre.  We just did our bit to give back to local Nature and enhance the natural landscape.

Had those bloody imposing and overruling overhead wires instead been better installed along the other side of the street (where there are no trees to speak of), or even better, installed underground (given we are in a bushfire risk zone), then this pear tree after 24 years would have grown by now to over 30 metres high.  It would not just shade one’s property, cars in the street, but most of our street.  Such were the dumb infrastructure planners of the day.   The property also wouldn’t have that super bright street light.

 

 

With a wide spread of up to six metres, and a more conical shape, the Chanticleer (Pyrus calleryana)  means proud strutting rooster.  It is one of the most popular ornamental pears in cultivation in Australia.  Its leaves are dark green, foliage dense, provides habitat for native birds and other wildlife.  It also provided spectacular autumn foliage in shades of gold, plum, and burgundy.  Chanticleer (also known as the Cleveland Select Pear) typically grows to a mature height of 8 to 12 metres (26 to 40 feet). It is a hardly cool climate species, featuring a distinctive, narrow, and upright teardrop shape, spreading about 4 to 6 metres wide at maturity. These ornamental pears are prized for tight spaces and streetscapes due to their naturally uniform, dense habit. 

In addition to their height, such ornamental pear trees typically grow moderately fast; and once established they can add 50 to 80 cm per year. 

Pear trees provide seasonal benefits – producing masses of small white flowers in spring; dense deep green foliage for summer shade; vibrant yellow, orange, red and burgundy coloured foliage in autumn.  Russet had been planted in well drained sandy loam.  It was one of six of the same variety planted by three adjoining neighbours in a row, two in front of each of the three properties.  The verge coppice hedging had sensibly replaced Council’s grass that Council insisted owne mow regularly at owner’s time and expense bizarrely as a ratepayer service to Council.  Shoe on the wrong foot or what?

Then Asplundh and its immigrant backpacker meatheads came along in July 2026.   Some folks just hate trees.   It’s probably why this mob operate in the leafy Blue Mountains – like “how many trees can we kill today?” mentality.   This was the offending truck:

 

 

 

And towing on the rear the industrial strength tree chipper:

   

 

The website states: 

“Meet the Bandit 21XP – Your Unstoppable Chipping Solution
Tackle the Toughest Jobs with Ease Imagine effortlessly handling the largest, toughest materials with the Bandit 21XP.  Its 21” capacity and 26” x 24.5” .

 

Bandit 21XP – 21″ Drum Style Wood Chipper

 

The manufacturer of the Bandit 21XP (also known as the Intimidator 21XP) is Bandit Industries, Inc., an American company based in Remus, Michigan,

INTIMIDATOR™ 21XP – TOWABLE

 

One doesn’t have to be too smart to drive a truck.  This author holds many ‘driving’ licenses so oughta know – like a HC (semi-trailer) license, authorised bus driver licence (including double deckers),  UPPL (unrestricted private pilot licence), CPL (commercial helicopter licence), low level flying endorsement (R22), commercial coxwains ticket, also for a motorbike, forklift and oh yeah a car licence – manual even!  All unblemished.

One does not hold a chainsaw license on principle, but it oughta not be too hard to work it out (see video below on how to start a chainsaw).  Yet I wouldn’t let a ranga leprachaun near one or near another truck for that matter. 

 

Click to play video

 

 

Endeavour Energy (the current powerline operator serving the NSW Government) should wisely consider discontinuing to associate with Asplund for its vegetation trimming.  It’s not been the first time in our experience over 26 years here.

 

 

 

BTW, that rego plate X0 135F – probably the ‘F‘ duly stands for fuckwit.  The Kiwi leprechaun would typically hate Aussie native possums and therefore Australians.  So why is he here in the first place across the ditch causing havoc downunder?   Perhaps Australian could exchange him with Grafton’s Brendan Tarrant of Christchurch notoriety in hatred.   Thus Brendan would fly back to OZ on QANTAS, and this Kiwi ranga leprauchaun skedaddle deport back to the long white cloud on AirNZ to continue his passion for deforestation on his home turf?

Problems across the ditch?  Good Kiwis deserve to stay downunder, but feral Kiwis deserve go back across.

 

 

 

 

 

And all this drama rocked up within juts a month after Blue Mountains Council’s wheelchair access dictat effort…

Blue Mountains Council threatening letter is bureaucratic ignorant bullying

 

Frankly, is it no wonder why we despise government in all its guises, corporatised or otherwise?

 

 

Then the coward contractors returned later that night and chainsawed the evidence… except the property owner had captured it all.

 

 

 

This malicious vandalism comes just a few weeks after the owner was harassed by Blue Mountains Council bullies about this same verge.

 

 

Blue Mountains Council and Endeavour Energy’s Asplundh simply don’t deserve to belong anywhere near the Blue Mountains world heritage, but back in the CITY.

 

 

This was our house originally:

 

 

 

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Sean Rowe:

 

 

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Postscript:

 

Since the date of this Asplundh Truck Crash into my property, Katoomba Police have served me with Court Attendance Order.  WTF?

 

“And the people came shouting, “What’s this all about…?” 

They looked!  And they stared with their eyes popping out.

Then they cheered and they cheered and they CHEERED more and more.

They’d never seen anything like it before!

My goodness!  My gracious! they shouted.  “MY WORD!

It’s something brand new!

IT’S AN ELEPHANT BIRD!!

And it should be, it should be, it SHOULD be like that!

Because Horton was faithful!  He sat and he sat!

He meant what he said.

And he said what he meant…

An elephant’s faithful, one hundred percent!”

 

SOURCE:  ‘Horton Hatches The Egg’, children’s book by Dr Seuss, 1940.

 

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References and Further Reading:

 

[1]  Asplundh’s notice of trimming of vegetation to us, 2026-06-29, from our files,

 

[2]  ‘Chainsaw massacre reduces beautiful old trees to ugly stumps‘, 2018-07-05, by Jennie Curtin, Blue Mountains Gazette (newspaper), Gladstone Road, Leura, Blue Mountains, ^https://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/story/5509314/tree-maintenance-turns-brutal-in-leuras-chainsaw-massacre/

 

[3]  ‘Asplundh cut down all of my pine trees and lied about obtaining permission‘,  Reddit.com (social website), (author chose to remain anonymous), ^https://www.reddit.com/r/treelaw/comments/1ecvwop/asplundh_cut_down_all_of_my_pine_trees_and_lied/

 

[4]  One’s formal complaint to Endeavour Energy in writing the very next day , 2026-07-10,  it reads as follows:

 

“To whom it may concern,
Complaints Manager
Endeavour Energy
Level 40-42, 8 Parramatta Square
10 Darcy Street
Parramatta, NSW 2150

Dear Sir/Madam,

RE: Asplundh tree destruction at 5 Kundibar Street Katoomba NSW 2780

Your Complaint Ref:  C-331040

Asplundh Job Ref:   AA358396

I refer to my telephone call to your Complaints department yesterday.

Yesterday (Thursday 9^th July 2026), Endeavour Energy’s outsourced vegetation contractor Asplundh arranged with me to trim our verge vegetation clear of the overhead  powerlines at our above residential address, to which I agreed and oversaw.

This arrangement has been mutually agreed between myself and Endeavour Energy since 2011 to occur roughly every six months and the arrangement has been amicable.  

That was up until yesterday, when one of Asplundh’s cowboys drove into a mature tree of ours and destroyed it totally, and totally unnecessarily.

The trimming job yesterday had been performed between 11:30am and 12:30pm, and the task duly completed as I watched on.  Then the Asplundh crew headed off to another location.

However, about 10 minutes later, I visually observed from my front home office window one of the Asplundh trucks reverse into my verge and completely knock over a large 25+ year old ornamental pear tree to the road leaving a 1 metre high severed stump.  The tree’s truck diameter was just under 30cm!  It was no small tree!  I planted it 25 years ago.

I attach photos of the damage.  I point out that the tree was in no way impacting the safe vertical area near the overhead  powerlines. The trimming work had already been completed and this work has just previously been mutually confirmed with me happily by the Asplundh vegetation trimming supervisor onsite to his satisfaction.   I had thus returned inside.   

Upon seeing the tree fall across the street, I immediately raced outside to see the damage. The Asplundh truck driver (photographed) had exited his truck as I took photos and videos of the matter.  The truck driver then questioned me and approached me in an aggressive manner on the street in front of his truck.   I photographed and videoed him at the time at the damage senesce at the time only to be threatened by his aggressive behaviour toward me. 

I asked why.

The Hi-Viz Asplundh crew laughed at me, stating it was only a tree.  Yet, I was the victim. The truck driver was clearly in the wrong.

I have reported this malicious damage to Police, Blue Mountains City Council, Asplundh’s contact Calib, and to Endeavour Energy.

What has occurred is unacceptable and I have sought legal advice in relation to this matter.  I now have engaged a solicitor.”

Attached evidentiary images:

Yours sincerely,

(affected property owner)

 

[5]   Asplundh ‘Chainsaw massacre reduces beautiful old trees to ugly stumps‘, 2018-07-10, by Jennie Curtin, Blue Mountains Gazette (newspaper), ^https://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/story/5509314/tree-maintenance-turns-brutal-in-leuras-chainsaw-massacre/

 

In 2018, Asplundh launched its tree terror attack on Leura, targeting 

Gladstone Road, Leura (Blue Mountains) BEFORE Asplundh Terrorist Attack:

 

 

AFTER Asplundh terrorist attack:

 

 

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“Asplundh’s vision is to be the leading Australian provider of vegetation maintenance”

SOURCE:  Asplundh website, ^https://www.asplundh.com.au/about-us

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[6]     ‘Asplundh destroyed our tree without permission—what can we do?‘, 2025, by (anonymous), on REDDIT.COM, ^https://www.reddit.com/r/Albany/comments/1k6c01s/asplundh_destroyed_our_tree_without/

“You are actually lucky they left you a tree. On our land they just cut the trees off with 4 feet stumps and left everything. They are supposed to notify you ahead of time, but you basically have to be there chaining yourself to trees or they don’t care. National Grid would clear cut Sequoia National Forest if they had so much as an extension cord near the place.“

 

[7]  ‘Did Asplundh damage trees on private property in Ross Creek?‘, by Jess Wallis, Ross Creek Community Group , 5 July 2025, 

 

[8]  ‘Has anyone ever had asplundh just absolutely ruin the trees in your yard?‘, by eabcan (anonymous), 2024-2-28, on REDDIT.COM, ^https://www.reddit.com/r/milwaukee/comments/18leibc/has_anyone_ever_had_asplundh_just_absolutely_ruin/

“I’m in Portland, Oregon (USA) and Asplundh were hired by PGE.  They just came down our street and did a horrible job.  I agree that the power lines need to be kept clear, but they absolutely butchered trees.  They left stubs on the trees and took off branches that were no where near the lines. They also left a pile of debris in their wake. I am fuming right now.“

 

[9]   ‘Asplundh was a bully‘, Go to legal (anonymous), 2024, 

 

[10]  ‘Has anyone else had issues with Asplundh doing tree trimming for Duke Power?‘  by ‘LittleMissMeanAss’ (anonymous), 2023,  

“Asplundh recently entered my property, which is fenced and gated, and cut down a 20+ year old tree without any notice or permission. I contacted their Garner office and left a message on their complaint line. Got a call back from a fellow who said he would go out and look at the tree in question. He calls back and says the tree was actually “a cluster of trunks that is classified as underbrush” and they’re within their rights to cut it down. I asked how that was possible when the tree was taller than the barn it was next to. He said that the trunk was not 12″ wide nor higher than 3′ (how would you know how tall it is when they took the whole thing down?) and therefore they didn’t do anything wrong and there was nothing else that could be done. The tree was taller than my barn. There are photos of it on Google Earth that show it all the way back to 2007, being at roof-line height. We usually trim it in spring to keep it cut back from the power lines ourselves. They had no issues topping two other trees that were actually growing around the power lines, but they chose to cut this one all the way down?

He also said that they left a doorhanger, but also kept insisting there was a house on my property. There isn’t a house. It’s a farm. “Well, maybe he left it on your gate and it blew away. But we did our due diligence and left it. He’s going to send me his log later tonight to show where he marked that he left a door hanger.” When the matter of entering the property came up he said, “Not that it sounds any better, but they didn’t come through your gate. They climbed over the fence.” I mean.

I can’t wrap my head around a company just letting themselves into private property without (a) contacting the landowner and (b) just taking down a whole ass tree.

Has anyone had this experience with them? What did you do? Did you get a resolution or did they tell you to pound sand too?”

 

[11]  ‘Nuts about Gums‘, Facebook page, ^https://www.facebook.com/groups/371844566747946/posts/1925746648024389/