By Brendan Rees
A Blind Bight man says he’s been begging with Casey council to chop down some dead gum trees that keep dropping large branches before they “hit someone.”
Bob O’Connell says branches falling onto a toilet block near the Blind Bight boat ramp on Anchorage Drive were becoming a “real problem.”
“Two big trees crashed down through the week and hit on the toilet block and we’ve been asking for the damn trees to be taken down,” he said.
“It is a real dangerous hazard. They’re very tall gum trees. They’ve been dead for a few years.”
Mr O’Connell said he contacted the council about six months ago however the trees remained untouched.
Casey Council Manager City Presentation David Richardson said council received notification of a fallen branch on the roof of a Blind Bight toilet block on 4 April.
“Council acted on the same day that the damage was reported, with Council’s tree maintenance contractor completing remedial works the following day to remove the branch,” he said.
Mr O’Connell said he feared the day someone was seriously injured or even killed.
“If they (public) go into the toilets, especially at night which they do, (and) if a branch falls on them I don’t know whose going to be liable for it.”
“We have a lot of buses come from universities to do environmental studies.
“They’re falling down and there’s a good chance they’re going to hit someone too – that’s the worst part,” he said.
Mr O’Connell said he found big tree limbs lying on top of the toilet block when strong winds swept through the town in recent weeks.
He said other concerned residents have called for action to be taken: “It’s very dangerous.”
