Fears for Creery street ‘Anzac tree’ after church carob collapse

Both carob trees were planted almost a century ago by Private Lancel Butcher to honour his fallen comrades, including his brother, Leonard, who was killed in action in France on May 3, 1917 and is buried in Villers-Bretonneux.

Private Butcher, from Pinjarra, planted three trees with seeds he brought back from the Mediterranean after the war; the male tree at the church, a female tree in Creery Street and a third on Sholl Street which was cut down before its history was known.

The two surviving trees are on the City of Mandurah’s significant tree register.

Mandurah RSL vice-president Dave Mabbs said he was worried the Creery Street tree would no longer flower or produce seeds if the church tree, which pollinates it, was cut down. A limb from the church tree collapsed in March with an arborist finding it had lost its structural integrity.

Mr Mabbs said the hundred-year old trees had Mandurah history embedded in them and it would be a tragedy for the city if one was to go and the other did not flower.

“Lansel was working in a stable near the church, he was a farm hand before he enlisted,” he said.

“He planted the trees in places where he could see them as he went through his normal daily routine and remember his brother and his mates.”

The trees were living symbols of the Anzac spirit.

“There’s not too many of us who have not been touched by the Anzac spirit,” Mr Mabbs said.

“We would have a father, a grandfather, a grandmother, an uncle, an aunty, a second cousin, a great-uncle, somebody who was affiliated in some way with the first world war.

“So therefore, over the last 100 years, Anzac has become part of our DNA, it's just been bred into us.”

Mr Mabbs said he wanted to work hand-in-hand with the City of Mandurah to plant carob trees propagated from the original at Christ’s Church or somewhere suitable for pollination.

Trees propagated from the Creery Street original have been planted at the Mandurah War Memorial and are given to school groups to remember those who lost their lives in war.

But City of Mandurah chief executive Mark Newman said it was too soon to make decisions about the future of the Creery Street tree because council would have to decide the fate of Christ’s Church carob tree first.

“The community and environmental value of mature trees is well understood by the City of Mandurah,” he said.

“The City works hard to keep as many mature trees as possible and acknowledges the benefits they provide to the community.

“Under the Town Planning Scheme, a development application needs to be submitted by the landowner for the removal or significant modification of a tree on the City’s Significant Tree Register.

“Any decision to remove or significantly modify significant trees is guided by the City’s environmental policies, which establishes the principles of environmental protection, impact minimisation and conservation of natural resources, in addition to community safety.”

Mr Newman said the City would review an arborist’s report before deciding on the application to pull down the tree.