Twenty-two London Plane Trees along Glen Huon Boulevard in Eaton will be removed and replaced with a "suitable mature tree" within a financial year after it was endorsed by the Shire of Dardanup council on February 23.
The officer's report showed that the trees had been on the public agenda since 2017 when council endorsed to remove the dead London Plane Trees along Glen Huon Boulevard.
Since that time the shire had received "ongoing" complaints and requests for the healthy trees between Clydesdale Drive and Gromark Gate to be removed and for the litter in private property to be removed by the council.
The item was raised again at a council meeting in October, however the council knew there were "varied opinions" on the trees, according to the report, and deferred the motion for further community consultation.
The consultation process received nine submissions of support to remove the trees, six opposing and two neutral.
One resident, who asked not to be named, was disappointed the councillors voted on the issue when there had been no arborist or environmental report done.
The officer's report showed the letters of support were mainly from property owners who were directly impacted by the trees.
"...citing ongoing maintenance problems and in some cases minor property damage due to root invasion," it said.
After the consultation the officer recommended the council endorse removing the 22 trees and replace them over three years.
Shire president Mick Bennett was successful in amending the motion to changing the time frame of the removal to within the financial year.
He said the shire was not in the habit of pulling out healthy trees but it was "unavoidable".
"They were the wrong trees planted at the time and we need to forget about how nice they look because they only create problems," he said.
Councillor Mark Hutchinson seconded the new motion and said after doing his own research he believed it was in the interest of all ratepayers to remove them.
"As a council we have to look after our ratepayers," he said.
"The shire cannot afford to pay for repairs that these trees will cause."
Cr Hutchinson also added an amendment to include the shire take London Plane Trees off the accepted species list so they are not used again.
Councillor Patricia Perks voted against the amendment and said it wasn't right to pull the trees out all at once.
Cr Bennett's motion was carried 8-1.