GREENS FEED ON FIG FRENZY

COMMENT: Tree huggers united. Architects designers on call. And former Fremantle mayor Brad Pettitt taking temperature readings around the ‘monster’ Moreton Bay fig tree overlooking 195 High Street.
Seriously Freo citizens, take a Bex and chill. Including you Brad, not wearing a hat when the pavement outside the 135-year-old fig bearer’s shadow clocked 50C on your thermometer. What were you thinking?
And what were you doing on private property unless you were helping owners clean up tree debris so canopy-loving people such as yourself don’t fall or slip into a legal jam?
Streetwise readers have expressed a soft spot for the Moreton Bay many climbed as children while visiting Dr Jayarama at the former surgery and adjoining pharmacy.
Planted in 1889, the majestic tree will not live forever. Yet there is nothing  like stirring the pre-election pot to pull political points over a dying fig and attract, as witnessed on social media over the past week, unwarranted criticisms of a Fremantle family that has cared for the historic planting for nearly half its life.
A local blogger even commented  it was ‘no big deal’ for property owner and one of Freo’s highly respected senior citizens, Pamela Cattalini, to clean up tree debris every day every summer. And still does.
Not one person at the pop-up protest on February 22 gave a single thought, let alone lend a helping hand, to Mrs Cattalini and her family who since 1966 have cleaned up tree litter so locals such as Brad don’t slip and break a funny bone.
Noteworthy is that some of the councillors who voted the tree be removed from the City’s significant register attended the contrived photo shoot including Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge: “The decision was to take it off a register that it probably should never have gone on in the first place.” Now the mayor wants to support a motion by City Ward Cr Adin Lang overturning the decision on February 14.
She confirmed the Cattalini family never consented to having the tree moved on to the register, which prompted the decision by council to remove it as reported by StreetWise at www.streetwisemedia.com.au.
Former mayor and Greens MP Brad told the media the landowner’s agreement was not needed for the tree to be put on the register, “as it was merely being moved from another heritage register”. By whom? And under what authority?
The High Street property was permanently included in the Register of the National Estate in 1978 for its heritage significance and the tree itself classified by the National Trust in 1974.
The property owners bought the property in 1966 and could have removed the tree but decided instead to care for it for nearly six decades.
Brad recalls, “from memory council needed to move it because of the updated definitions in the model scheme text for planning schemes meant that living things like trees could no longer have protection under heritage lists in the scheme. So this tree and others were moved so that they could continue to have protection as intended under the earlier scheme”.
He also understood that the City still does some cleaning on site. I think that there’s an opportunity for the Cattalinis and City to work together for a better outcome.
“I hope that the renewed focus on this tree leads to a better outcome for the tree and the family. There’s a potential win win here.”
Brad adds it’s really going to be a case of, “what’s the vision of the person who buys that property, and do they think that the tree could be part of it”.
He’s right. The property has to be sold first before a decision is made by the new owners to include the tree in a redevelopment of the prime 2000sqm site which was considered as a possible site for the police station.
Fremantle Society president John Dowson told StreetWise for Brad, “it’s a touchy feely issue for him to get mileage out of”, and that some of the backlash over council’s decision to delist the tree is hollow.
The fig frenzy is the Greens getting energised for next year’s mayoral election and possible departure of Labor mayor Fitzhardinge.
On its social media page, Fremantle Matters highlights the ‘family’ branches involved in the fig tree protest including DesignFreo secretary and Brad’s partner Emma Brain.
Emma also works in communications at Coastal Ward Cr Jemima Williamson-Wong’s parent’s business The Fulcrum Agency.
This mishmash of political engineering rather than social and economic improvement such feelgood groups promise is undermined by their willingness to propagate in the media false impressions that not only did the council vote to cut down the tree (when it did not) and that the extraordinary specimen was about to be chainsawed from the record (when it is not).
The use by DesignFreo of children hugging ‘our’ tree provides a shameless soft touch.

Significant?

The City’s tree register was introduced in 2019 to, “allow tree and vegetation removal on private land without the requirement for a development application unless the tree or vegetation is identified on the register”.
Only trees and vegetation on private property are eligible for listing on the register at https://bitly.ws/3ehJJ.
Property owners are able to self-nominate a tree or vegetation area within their property for inclusion on the register.
Officers stated trees on private land, “contribute to the City’s urban forest”, and generally, “these trees are removed from private property when they come to the end of their lifespan or to make room for backyard improvements or development”.
They acknowledged while protection of significant vegetation is a key objective it raised, “some significant complexities when proposed through a regulatory framework”.
Notably, officers stated that consultation with private land owners was required before trees could be transferred to the register, contrary to what Brad is telling the media.
On February 24, 2023, Mrs Cattalini wrote to the CEO to request the tree be removed from the register as it was difficult to accept that, “I am forced to keep this tree when the Fremantle Council was allowed to remove most of their Moreton Bay Figs in St Johns Square for redevelopment”.
She said: “I am not in a position to make an application for a planning approval in order to see this tree removed. I just want the tree removed from the register so that in the future sale of the property, the new owner is free to have the option to retain this or not.”
The City website lists key points for nominations to the register including the tree or vegetation area be nominated or formally supported by the owner of the land on which it is located
“How did this tree get placed on the register without my consent?”
Mrs Cattalini said: “I am now in my twilight years and wish to sell this property in order to purchase a home and self-fund the rest of my lifetime. This property has been on the market for a number of years and each time an entity shows interest, they are put off by the registration of the tree on the significant tree register”.
She said although in itself, it is a lovely tree, “unfortunately it has no place on an inner-city commercial property. It would be much better if it was placed on the adjoining parkland. It constantly drops fruit and small branches (a few years ago it actually dropped a very large limb that could have had serious consequences to person and property). The fruit and small branches clog up the gutters and drains on buildings and soakwells. They dirty the cars parked on the site and cause a slipping hazard to pedestrians.
“I am well into in my 80s and need to sweep the carpark every day during the summer. Furthermore, it is causing damage to the retaining wall and brick paving that surrounds it.”
Local tree hugger Claudia Green who recalls the mess these blow-ins caused when she lived in the eastern states said fig trees are imported nuisances as their litter is slippery and potentially dangerous if someone fell or slipped.
She adds: “The tree itself is not a tree hugger’s tree, normally. You do not get tree huggers worrying about fig trees. They go into the forest and chain themselves to native trees. They can use my ratepayers money to put in a mature tree to replace it instead of spending money on architect-designed toilets.”
Mrs Cattalini said the tree could be transplanted or a seed from the tree used to propagate another tree planted elsewhere in a more suitable parkland setting.
On December 18, 2023, Ms Stacey Cattalini-Towne wrote to the CEO and councillors acknowledging “this magnificent tree, which has been a cherished part of our family’s property for many years”.
She said: “The current restrictions including the heritage listing of the house and the tree on the register significantly impact the development potential of the site. The combined area of the tree canopy and house footprint constitutes approximately 40% of the property creating constraints that affect almost half of the site.”
According to the ‘Heritage Comment’ attached to the February 14, 2024 agenda, “in recognition of the heritage significance of the tree and its contribution to the character of central Fremantle”, the City also entered into an agreement with the Cattalini family in 1995, “for the joint maintenance of the tree. This agreement is still in place”.
Former mayor Peter Tagliaferri said: “We voted to maintain and clean the tree droppings daily, which we did. Pamela told me last I saw her that council stopped doing that once I got off council.” Brad?

‘Phantom planter’

With all the jam jokes and call to arms, nobody is talking about the story of Fremantle’s ‘phantom’ gardner who planted the city’s ‘most significant tree’, Fremantle Society president John Dowson told StreetWise.
Originally 241 High Street, the pre-Gold Rush ‘dwelling house, garden and sheds’ was built for Philip Cranworth Webster in 1886. Born on April 2, 1829, in Cranworth, Norfolk, England, Webster owned the Esplanade Hotel in the 1860s and 1870s and was a council auditor, nurseryman and ‘great lover of flowers’. Also chair of the Reform Committee in 1884, he built the Federal Coffee Palace (now Lance Holt School) and was busted with his son (same name) for lighting a fire on Norfolk Street.
Webster insisted his two-storey ten room house include a wraparound verandah and conservatory for raising plants.
Before Webster built the house on High Street, he lived in Vine Cottage (location unknown) in 1869. His first wife died there in 1886, after which he moved to what would become ‘Cranworth Villa’. His son died there in 1948, aged 87.
According to State heritage records: “This particular tree is purported to be the progenitor of many of the Moreton Bay Fig trees in Fremantle, including the Proclamation Tree in Adelaide Street (planted in 1890).”
Webster also is credited with planting the Moreton Bays in the former Kings Square and at St John’s Church.
Webster collapsed during a stroll in Fremantle Park and was taken back to his house where he died on September 26, 1893, the ‘man of flowers’ aged 64 sitting on his verandah surrounded by his much-loved plantings, including the Moreton Bay he had brought to life four years earlier.
Reports describe the local area between Adelaide Street and Webster’s front fence at 195 High Street as “a panorama of multiflorous loveliness”.
Mr Dowson criticised Mayor Fitzhardinge for not recognising the site as a historic gem: “Shamefully council has done nothing to help with even maintenance of the huge tree (for a fee) despite The Fremantle Society asking Cr Lang to do something (he did nothing).
“Removing the tree is a tragedy for the future of the site. Yes it makes it easier to sell the property but could lead to subdivision of the site and apartment blocks built, with the heritage house either demolished or severely compromised by over-scaled new development. Ideally there would be a potential owner who likes trees, or perhaps someone like CBC School would see the site as a perfect extension of their campus. But council has to work on these issues, not walk away from them.”
Mr Dowson told StreetWise development of the site could accommodate various uses including offices with access that did not impose on the tree Webster planted at the front of the property.
“This is an astonishing gift to the tourist industry,” he said.
He said the tree when considered with the story of its ‘phantom’ planter and rare adjacent pre-Gold Rush house presents a stellar tourist attraction any heritage city would rush to protect and promote.
“While trees in urban environments average a 40 year lifespan, this magnificent tree is already 135 years old and the recent arborist report says it has 40 plus years left.”
The City over the past decade has had to remove a number of heritage protected Moreton Bay fig trees dating from the 1890s. These had declined in health despite years of specialist treatment and continued to deteriorate until they had lost most of their canopy and amenity value as branches started to rot. Those that had to be removed were replaced with a new tree.
The City aims to plant an average of 1000 trees a year to increase tree canopy cover to 20 per cent by 2027.
Recent arboricultural reports confirmed the tree is in good health. However, it is not known how long it will continue to thrive.

Advice provided to the City in 2018 stated while there was little published literature on the longevity of Moreton Bay figs in Perth, it was unlikely they would survive in an urban environment for longer than 120 to 150 years.
“If the tree is removed in future, material from this tree should be collected for the propagation of new trees and a replacement tree can be planted on site.”
Importantly, it states the council could collaborate with potential developers and offer incentives to retain the tree: “Failure to encourage and enable full utilisation the site increases the likelihood of vandalism and vagrancy, posing a threat to its well-being. Furthermore, there is a growing risk of being unable to sustain the upkeep of the heritage house if development is constrained.”
Additional stories at www.streetwisemedia.com.au and its Facebook page.