| Viewpoint - Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Letter: Library could threaten trees in the park
The possibility of locating a library/community center in Atherton's Holbrook-Palmer Park poses a threat to this invaluable open space in numerous ways but particularly to the magnificent array of trees within it.
Adjacent to the suggested "footprint" of the proposed new library are, for instance, a chaste tree, a magnificent towering redwood tree and a huge bunya-bunya tree (False Monkey Puzzle Tree). The latter is said to be of a genus going back to Jurassic times in Australia, has a history as part of aboriginal ceremonial gatherings and was at one time protected by government decree (Governor Gipps in 1842). Park visitors have been amazed to find such a tree on the grounds.
Current traffic and parking patterns, traumatic effects of a possible demolition, earth-moving and building process, and the inevitable increasing library usage (with attendant traffic) would most certainly put these and many other trees in jeopardy.
Atherton takes pride in its designation as "Tree City" and symbolic logo of a tree, which indicates to this reader that our town has an obligation to protect these special trees for posterity.
William Awbrey, Rittenhouse Avenue, Atherton
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