Boggoms Bay folk angry at 'excessive pruning'

BOGGOMS BAY NEWS - Residents of Boggoms Bay are upset with one of their homeowners who, in their opinion, took the law into his own hands, disregarding other homeowners.

They reacted with frustration to the seemingly wanton destruction of vegetation, including milkwood trees in front of this resident's beachfront home.

A neighbour alleges that the specific homeowner transgressed their erf boundaries and that some of the shared trees and shrubs were decimated on their adjoining property without their prior consent.

To make matters worse, the homeowner has apparently had the waste from the pruning dumped on an open erf, where it is feared it could cause a fire risk.

Representatives of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) have visited the terrain.

Melanie Koen of the Knysna DAFF office said: "The dune strip is mostly covered with alien vegetation (Rooikrantz) with pioneer indigenous dune crowberry (Rhus crenata), with a few scattered milkwood shrubs - and thus cannot be classified as coastal forest.

"One milkwood shrub has been pruned - only a few centimetres have been cit off as the shrub still has green foliage."

She added that the dune crowberry (Rhus crenata) was not on the list of protected trees. Rooikrantz (Acacia cyclops), however is an alien invasive species.

Koen said milkwood shrubs along the seafront and on dunes are mostly stunted, not reaching a great height, as is the case with the specific shrub which was approximately 1.5m high originally. She said the roots and shrub were still intact and no erosion or environmental degradation was caused when it was pruned.

Greater concern
"The branches that were dumped on the adjacent property are not all milkwood branches - but included mostly Rooikrantz and dune crowberry branches."

Koen said DAFF had, however, noticed that along the coastal dune strip most erven encroach on to municipal property and that residents had "planted grass for a few metres from the erf boundaries, where indigenous or protected shrubs could have once possibly occurred, also adding to the deterioration of the fragile coastal dune."

"This, in my opinion, is more of an environmental problem, where dune fragmentation could occur and thus pose a threat to adjacent properties - as is the example in certain areas in the Southern Cape." DAFF has a co-operative agreement with municipalities and all other environmental authorities, therefore at times practises joint enforcement. Normally DAFF addresses the matter with the landowner, which in this instance is Mossel Bay Municipality. DAFF is in the process of addressing the matter with the homeowner, but added that it could not make its decision public due to legal implications.

Mossel Bay Municipality said they are satisfied that the authorities have responded to the case. The Municipality will support the outcome of the investigation. Mossel Bay has also issued the alleged transgressor with a notice. For any enquiries about the trimming or cutting of vegetation on municipal property, contact the Municipality (044 606 5000) beforehand.

The homeowner was approached for comment but had not responded to questions by the time of going to print.

Cuttings from the pruning were dumped on an open erf in the vicinity, where neighbours fear it may be a fire risk.