OVERSHADOWED: Vincentia resident Gloria Holgate wants council to remove the large gumtree outside her home which shades her villa for much of the day throughout winter.
A LARGE gumtree in Vincentia is causing some grief for a resident who says her home is cold and dank throughout winter because of it.
The tree, which is on the strip outside Gloria Holgate’s villa on Beach Street, also drops a lot of debris in her gutters and porch.
Mrs Holgate has been contacting Shoalhaven City Council about the tree since 2009 to have it removed, as have others in the neighbourhood previously.
However council said the tree was healthy and posed no danger.
“For me it’s mostly the shade on the villa,” Mrs Holgate said.
“With the cost of things I can’t afford to run the dryer or heating all day.
“It’s always a problem in winter; last winter it was really bad,” she said.
She was also concerned the tree could lose a large branch and impact her home.
“It’s a beautiful tree, but it’s grown too big for a neighbourhood area,” she said.
The problem has seen the 79-year-old pensioner put her villa on the market.
“I can’t cope with another winter,” she said.
Council parks operations manager Brett Carter said the tree had been inspected four times since 2009 and was considered low risk.
“Council does not consider that the tree is impacting on any residents’ health and, in fact, provides a pleasant shady respite for pedestrians during days of extreme high temperatures such as experienced only last week,” Mr Carter said.
He said council was not willing to remove the tree, “or any tree considered low risk as this tree and other such trees create a leafy ambience and break the starkness of the barren road reserve”.
In response to requests, council has removed limbs from over the properties and covered exposed roots.
Mrs Holgate said council had informed her she could remove the tree herself, provided it met certain criteria, but that she could not afford to do so.
Mr Carter said it was possible to approach council “on hardship grounds to pay for the tree’s removal, however, as this matter has already been discussed by the tree review committee, it is unlikely that the tree will be removed”.
Mrs Holgate has offered to tend flowering natives if these were to replace the gumtree.