NINETEEN trees are on the chopping block because residents near Embleton Golf Course don’t like mulching being done near them.

The City of Bayswater is planning to remove the trees at Lightning Park trees so their main mulching operations can be moved from the golf course to the park.

The golf course is an ideal spot in some ways – central and with space for a frontend loader, truck and woodchipper to access the site.

But a report to councillors says “this has unfortunately begun to cause some concern with residents immediately adjacent over the last couple of months due to noise and dust”.

Of the 19 trees, 13 are healthy, but 11 of those are out-of-towners (red river gums, which are common in the north of the state). 

The Friends of Lightning Swamp, a volunteer group which takes care of the adjacent bushland, has agreed to the removal on the condition that 40 semi-mature trees and 1000 endemic tree tube stocks are planted over the next year. 

They’ll also get a new “rural style fence” along the edge of the park to keep out illegal dumpers and off-road bikeriders. 

Bayswater councillors vote on the plan June 23.