details

Statement of Significance

Scientific - This stand of trees creates a food source & nesting & roosting place for endemic birds including a threatened species. The trees may be valuable in studying resistance to or management of marri canker which is of great concern in the entire SW of WA.

Historic - These trees have provided all the seeds for the revegetation of Bill Sheehy Reserve (Cnr Leach Hwy & Stock Road) and other nearby reserves in the early 1990s.

Social - They contribute to reducing the harshness and temperature of the street by significant shading which is critical in a heavily vehicle-trafficked area.

Aesthetic - This unusual stand of clustered marris is an historic feature of the streetscape and contibutes to a sense of peace and relaxation close to a bust highway intersection and shopping complex.

History

In the late 1980s and early 1990s this stand of trees was notable for its survival in the suburb of Palmyra where developers & speculators were busy turning beautiful treed gardens and old historic single homes on 1/4 acre blocks into clusters of up to 5 or 7 investment units. Until a few locals achieved a change in R-Code density, the suburb became notorious for having the LEAST amount of public open space to housing and only one depauperate piece of remnant bushland - on the corner of Stock Road and Leach Highway. The Local Palmyra Community Association at the time garnered support from the soon to be Premier (Geoff Gallop) and public gatherings at that site soon led to much busy work including a comprehensive remnant vegetation survey and mass non-chemical weeding and re-planting weekends with a range of endemic species given freely by local gardeners and the APACE community nursery in Nth Fremantle. The juvenile marris now thriving in Bill Sheehy Reserve were all sourced from seed collected & germinated from this stand of trees at the corner of Petra and Elvira Sts. Many of them were carefully nurtured and then lovingly planted out and regularly visited by the late Hon Gary Kelly (MLC) & his late wife Cheryl along with their 3 young children.

Location

The majority of the trees are on the NW verge area of the Elvira / Petra St intersection. One tree at least in this stand is inside the property boundary.

Other

This species of tree may actually be listed as "threatened" in the near future due to the change in climate & the rapid spreading of marri canker and the general decline in health of such trees. Any significant metropolitan stands should be nutured and treated with great respect and be incorporated into relevant causal & potential treatment research.
See;1) http://www.foresthealth.com.au/files/2012%20Bulletin%203%20Marri%20canker_LR.pdf

2) http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2014/12/05/4143214.htm

Notes

A visual overview of the stand of trees from several perspectives.