Protestors are planning to perch up 100-year-old tuart trees along High Street in protest the Barnett government’s plans to bulldoze the FERN community garden.

The Barnett government plans to widen High Street in early 2015, flattening FERN at the corner of Montreal Street and a cluster of trees, and slicing into the Royal Fremantle Golf Course and three fairways of the public golf course.

Forest Rescue campaign manager Simon Petterffy says environmentalists have been stung into action after seeing a “landscape architect” marking trees to be cut.

“The whole of FERN would be wiped out, which has been used by the Forest Rescue in the last two years,” he lamented.

“There are Tuart trees which are 80-100 years old that are home to 28s, white-tailed cockatoos, butcher birds and wattle birds.

“This widening of High Street is a $120 million band-aid solution to a severe haemorrhaging problem.

“We are looking at building tree platforms and any hint of bulldozers, we will be sitting in them.”

Mr Petterffy, arrested in 2012 for unlawful trespass when protecting Warrup forest numbats, says the group won’t wait till the bulldozers and chainsaws arrive.

“Working on campaigns over the years has taught me the best line of defence is attack,” he says. “We will be planning non-violent protests and sit-ins at politicians’ officers. So Troy Buswell can expect a sit-in at his office.”

Fremantle Road to Rail convenor Annolies Truman says it’s too early to start cutting trees down.

“Troy Buswell said the government had an aim of getting 30 per cent of freight on rail, although he didn’t say when.

“If that happened there would no need to widen the road or cut down trees. Not only would a six-lane road increase traffic by 50 per cent, it would increase pollution and dangerous diesel particulates.”

by BRENDAN FOSTER