Sunshine Coast Council is working to find those responsible for one of the region’s “worst cases” of beachside vegetation poisoning in decades, with the perpetrator potentially facing substantial fines.
Dozens of trees, including two towering Norfolk pines, are dying along a 300m stretch of Dicky Beach, which was targeted in the illegal act.
Councillor Terry Landsberg said council fines could reach about $130,000, with even greater penalties possible under state environmental legislation.
“We have only just gone through the whole process of saving the iconic norfolks at Moffat Beach,” he said.
“To see these trees in this state, especially two of them – one Norfolk is in a bad state and the one next to it is showing signs of distress. It is really concerning.”
Council first received information about the poisoning in August and began monitoring the site immediately.
While the chemical used has not yet been identified, Cr Landsberg said residue testing and further site inspections were continuing.
“Council staff are saying it’s one of the worst cases of vegetation poisoning in decades,” he said.
“Council staff, to their credit, have undergone an entire investigation. They went through that whole area and collected all of that poison.
“It is a granular style poison that was laid out, like in a form of kitty litter and spread along. There were large amounts of it.”
Arborists are monitoring the health of the trees, hoping some could be saved.
“There is something with the poison that seems to affect the ability of the trees to photosythensise – to collect sunlight,” Cr Landsberg added.
“It has targeted the more established trees more than the undergrowth.”
Cr Landsberg said he wasn’t sure of the affect on the wildlife but there had been concerns as residents walk their dogs along the coastal pathway daily.
One Caloundra resident, who saw the damage this morning while on a walk, said in his 45 years of living in the region, he had never witnessed a tree poisoning of this scale.
“It takes decades to grow a tree and one selfish coward to poison it,” he said.
“That Norfolk pine, I can’t even work out how old it is, but it would have to be at least 30 to 40 years old. And a big beautiful banksia was killed as well.
“Imagine the bird life that lived in there. All of that suffers.”
The resident said it was not difficult to come to a conclusion as to why someone had poisoned the trees.
“It’s definitely a poison and it’s definitely been on purpose.”
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Cr Landsberg said he didn’t want to speculate on why someone would poison the trees.
“We will follow the process and obviously wait for the investigation before council has a position on that. It is extremely disappointing if it was for certain individual purposes,” he said.
“The community are very protective of our environment and to see scale of damage of what this poisoning has done is deeply concerning for a community that values its environment and values areas that we need to protect.
“Moving forward, I can assure the community that council will do everything in its power to come to an outcome and make sure the community is fully aware of the impact this has caused and of the ramifications will be put in place.”
Cr Landsberg urged anyone with information to phone council on 5475 7272.
