While trees provide benefits such as shade and CO2 absorption, they also create issues. If you want to put in a vegetable garden, most vegetables don鈥檛 flourish in shade. The same goes for solar panels or solar heating. Tree roots can also damage foundations, weeping tiles, sidewalks and roads.
The recent windstorms also highlighted the damage falling trees can do to homes, hydro networks and even people. Therefore, it seems unfair for municipalities to take away a property owner鈥檚 right to decide when a tree is no longer an asset.
If you need sunlight for growing food or producing power, you should have the right to make that choice. If you are worried about the safety of your family, or the cost of repairing tree root damage, you should be able to eliminate those risks.
Government bureaucrats don鈥檛 always know what鈥檚 best, and you shouldn鈥檛 be stuck with the bills resulting from their poor choices. Property owners should never be put in a position where they are held hostage by a tree. There is no shortage of trees in sa国际传媒.
S.I. Petersen
Nanaimo
