The council at the time was split on the request, with the Mayor casting the decider vote for the tree to remain as the council's policy stated it does not remove a tree due to 'nuisance caused by leaf, fruit or twig drop, reduction of shading on solar panels or gardens'. The council was again torn over Mr Kunze's motion to assist the elderly and people with disabilities to manage their gardens if verge trees required maintainence, with the Mayor again casting the deciding vote against the idea. Information compiled for councillors to argue the motion revealed in the past 12 months, the council received 120 requests specifically related to verge tree debris on private properties. One resident's complaint was escalated and led to the City making a claim through its insurer for an issue involving "tree damage as well as leaves" to a property. The city currently provides a verge mowing service to 6500 out of 35,661 dwellings, four times a year at an annual cost of $379,449 and will prune a verge tree upon request, if required.

It's also recently conducted a trial, cleaning the gutters of six properties impacted by council trees, twice a year. The council's tree canopy cover is among the lowest in Perth, with the council committing to plant more trees. When the council refuses to remove a problem verge tree Further south in the City of Mandurah, Coodanup resident Natalie Quadrio has been fighting her local council for the right to remove a large verge tree situated in the centre of her driveway. Ms Quadrio's verge tree.

She said she believed the tree was on private property when she purchased the home two years ago, and had planned to have it removed. The driveway was built around the verge tree, which the council is refusing to remove. "The council verge tree is massive and bang smack in the middle of our driveway, blocking access to the left side of our garage," she said. "I had rang and complained that the sap and debris from the tree was wrecking our solar hot water system, constantly blocking our gutters and – as one side of our garage is blocked – we can't park our car outside under it as the sap, nuts and tree branches damage our cars. "They said that the tree is in perfect health and all of the above issues were not warranted to have the tree removed."

Ms Quadrio said her husband had also been told by the council he was not to prune the tree. A few kilometres away, within the same council boundary, Wannanup home owner Marshall Howard said root invasion from a verge tree to the side of his driveway had cost him thousands to repair. "Continual root invasion causes lifting of the driveway pavers, which we have fixed at least six times in the past six years, notably at the request of the home's tenants, who report their child was injured tripping over the lifted pavers," he said. "Numerous requests to remove the tree have failed." An invoice provided to WAtoday showed Mr Howard was charged $1059 for the driveway pavers to be lifted for tree root removal in February 2018.

Mr Howard said he has paid thousands to repair his driveway due to root invasion from a verge tree. City of Mandurah chief executive Mark Newman said street trees contributed significantly to the local character of the community and that a tree would not be removed unless absolutely necessary. “A significant amount of money is invested in the planting and ongoing maintenance of street trees by the city and developers," he said. "The city continues to increase its urban canopy, something our community values highly. “It is important for residents to consider existing infrastructure including trees when buying and building homes.

Mr Howard's verge tree. "This can cause conflict from time to time as residents simply believe they can remove the tree." Mr Newman said the city will only remove a tree if it is dead or diseased, and prunes council trees once every one to five years. "If a property has been damaged by a falling tree or branch, owners are asked to submit a claim in writing for assessment," he said. "The City has a very low number of damage to building claims."

How other councils stack up Across Western Australia's local councils, 570 insurance claims relating to verge trees were lodged by residents in the past two years and thousands of requests for trees to be removed received. The City of Cockburn, 58, and the City of Rockingham, 50, had the most claims out of the councils which provided data to WAtoday. Most claims - which included allegations of damaged plumbing from tree roots and damaged cars and windows from fallen tree branches - were unsuccessful.

In the City of Joondalup, in the past year, 1334 pruning requests were received and 536 requests to remove a council tree, although Mayor Albert Jacob said most were not verge trees. "The city receives tree removal requests on an almost daily basis. However, only a percentage of these relate to trees on street verges," he said. "As the street verge is city land, it is important to note that the city is responsible for the maintenance of verge trees. "Debris clearing, gutter clearing and pruning of trees on private property is the responsibility of the resident." The level of responsibility a council takes for its verge trees varies from council to council.

Most offer annual pruning services to comply with Western Power power line clearance regulations - most also offer on-request pruning of a tree while some also have a street sweeping service. Some say clearing of leaf debris is a resident's responsibility, others say it is a shared responsibility and provide additional green waste bins, or verge mowing services. Under the City of Nedlands' policy, it states: 'Council considers some inconvenience arising from street trees as a necessary consequence of living in an urban environment where trees deliver significant community benefit'. Increasing Perth's tree canopy In contrast to thousands of residents requesting verge trees be removed each year, many councils are trying to increase their tree canopy to create cooler suburbs - with some suburbs recording temperatures up to six degrees hotter than others around them.

Canopy cover for selected West Australian local government areas, as at 2015. Credit:University of Technology, Sydney The City of Fremantle is seeking to increase its tree canopy coverage by 20 per cent. In 2017-18, it planted 714 trees on verges and in parks, while another 92 were added as part of landscaping component of projects like car parks and walkways. The city, which has around 1170 requests for tree inspections, pruning or removal each year, said it also encourages residents to establish a verge garden, with subsidies and free mulch available for native plants. A recent survey of Perth residents has found most people were aware of Perth's diminishing tree canopy, and cared about the issue, but it was often not a consideration when it came to deciding whether to plant or remove trees from their own property.