TIMBERRRRRRRR!!!!

About 2 years ago PC sent a letter to the local Council requesting that some dying trees on the verge be removed. He followed up with a phone call a few weeks later when no reply had been made and no action had been taken. The answer given was that it was being looked into. A few weeks after that a council team of workers came out and cleared a few branches that were close to the roadway and we were given the impression (verbally) that a more major tree clearing was being organised for the area when a professional tree maintenance group was contracted.

Yesterday afternoon, around 5pm, I was cutting branches off a Peppercorn tree that overhangs our property fence. I heard a creak, stopped working, and looked up at the nearby trees, noticing there was no wind disturbing them. Then after I looked away I heard another creak and a soft whooshing sound and my memories of trees falling, whilst horse riding in the bush, kicked my flight or fight adrenaline response into top gear and I bolted.

I heard the thud and crack of tree branches crashing down behind me, and felt the wind they created, but I didn't stop running until I was halfway across the one acre paddock. I had to sit down until my legs stopped shaking and I could breath normally. When I studied where the branches had fallen I saw that I would have been underneath a heavy side branch, which had broken down the peppercorn branch I was cutting back, if I hadn't moved.

It's midday now and, even though I rang the emergency number and reported the incident within an hour after it occurring, the lane has not been blocked to traffic and no one has appeared to evaluate the situation. A phone call to Council this morning hasn't prompted them to send a clearing and evaluation team either.

Where the bright green squashed Peppercorn tree branch, in almost the centre of the picture, is where I was standing prior to the tree trunk breaking.

The fence is approx 165cm high, or 5' 6" so the main trunk that broke off is about 50cm (20") thick. That is a good few tonnes of wood. I would have been blood and bone if I had no idea about the way a tree creaks before it breaks. An advantage of having lived in the bush most of my life.

In the centre of the group of trees the lighter coloured broken trunk can be seen at the top of the photo. 

Fortunately, there is a smaller paddock that the grazing animals can be contained in, for the time being, as I don't want them near this corner of the property until all the dangerous trees on this end of this lane - see photo below - are removed by council. Our fence is to the left of the photo. I'm going to make a nuisance of myself, with council, until this is done.

Stay safe everyone,

Cheers,

RobynLouise