• Kerin Faulkner says chopping these trees is vandalism. Photo by Marta Pascual Juanola

WESTERN POWER has come in for a blast from Cockburn mayor Logan Howlett for “hacking” trees in Levi Park, Munster.

The Herald was tipped off to the buzz cut by local Kerin Faulkner, who says she couldn’t believe it when she want for a walk in Levi Park and saw a dozen jarrah and banksia chopped and left on the ground.

Most had been hacked to a stump.

“It looks like they didn’t know what they were doing,” the Dotterel Way resident told the Herald.

“They weren’t more than three or four metres tall, they didn’t need to be chopped. To me this is vandalism.”

Western Power’s Todd Cardy told the Herald it was a “tidy up” around high-voltage lines to keep them clear of trees.

“High-voltage power lines like this one require bigger clear zones since electricity can travel to anything that is too close and cause a fire. It’s all for safety reasons.”

Mr Howlett wasn’t convinced, saying many trees had been unnecessarily killed.

“In some cases, there was no justification to prune the trees as they were well within the height constraints designated for being under power lines.

“From my observations, the trees were hacked and not pruned.

“To add insult to injury, the branches were left on the ground.

“The residents have a right to be upset given the city had recently planted new trees on the park’s boundary further to the north.”

Council chief engineer Charles Sullivan says Western Power’s contractor followed the rules.

“The trees in Levi Park have been pruned by Western Power’s authorised tree pruning contractor.

Although the city was not informed of the works, we understand the pruning has been completed in accordance with the prescribed clearance zone dimensions for high-voltage power lines,” Mr Sullivan told the Herald.

by MARTA PASCUAL JUANOLA