The Bradfield residents in 2022, amid the Canary Island pines, with the Monterey pines in the background. Photo: Robyn Sirr.
It’s been four years in the making, but a heritage ruling that would have meant a green wall rising in front of Downer apartment residents has been rescinded.
Residents’ spokesperson John Godwin said it was a win for common sense, but The Bradfield apartment owners weren’t out of the woods yet.
Mr Godwin said the ACT Heritage Council decision could be appealed to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal, and it was up to City Services to decide whether to remove the pine trees at the centre of the dispute and replace them, and how soon that could be done.
In 2022 Region reported that the Heritage Council had ordered two rows of Canary Island pines to be planted on ACT Government land on Bradfield Street to maintain a heritage-listed windbreak.
They replaced part of the Monterey pines windbreak planted by the CS&IR Dickson Experiment Farm in the 1940s, which was torn down to build The Bradfield.
As part of the approval, the developer was required to replace the pines with a like species.
But the residents of the north-facing apartments appealed to then Heritage Minister Rebecca Vassarotti that they did not want the sun and views blocked by an evergreen windbreak, but she deferred to the Heritage Council.
Residents argued that the pine tree plantings made no sense without the original rural setting, and that all good design demanded north-facing aspects to capture the sunshine.
They supported appropriate varieties, not a dense windbreak of pines rising to 25 metres.
Last year, a group of residents applied to have the heritage classification of the Canary Island pines cancelled and argued for replacing the pine trees with two rows of appropriate deciduous trees.
On Friday, the Heritage Council said it agreed to remove all references to Monterey Pines in the heritage listing for the windbreak across the entire site.
ACT Heritage Council chair Catherine Skippington said the Council had found that the windbreak’s heritage significance lies in its planting pattern, not in the specific tree species.
“By removing references to Monterey Pines, we allow for tree species better suited to current environmental and community needs to be planted in the same pattern, preserving the site’s history and original purpose,” she said.
Mr Godwin said the concern had always been the pine trees, not the windbreak itself.
He said a government urban design standard also stated that Canary Island pines were unsuitable for urban street planting, citing fire, health, and pedestrian hazards.
“We always argued for trees, and we were always happy with the windbreak pattern,” he said.
Mr Godwin said the decision did impact the Goodwin retirement development on Bradfield and Melba Streets, insofar as its DA specifies the replacement of heritage trees removed for building access.
“Goodwin is not at the tree-planting stage yet. In light of the Heritage Council decision, and in our opinion, it would not make sense for Goodwin to plant pine trees,” he said.
