Trillion Trees Australia has been based at Lot 2 Stirling Crescent, Hazelmere since 1986. Trillion Trees Australia gratefully acknowledges the Fyfe Family's gift of this land, which is dedicated to our purpose as a community nursery and restoration charity.
Land opposite Trillion Trees (along Stirling Crescent) has been historically used for livestock grazing, and some of it hosts powerlines and a sub station. A number of development applications have recently been submitted to the City of Swan to develop this land into extensive areas of hard standing for heavy vehicles, and Trillion Trees has provided formal objections to the planning team.
We work to heal landscapes and connect communities through our love of trees. These developments directly conflict with our mission and therefore we cannot support them.
We have a range of concerns about the impacts on the environment, local amenity, traffic, pollution and safety.
In the early 2000s, a large area of native trees was planted by Western Power to screen their infrastructure from the local residents. Western Power also appointed environmentalist Dr Simon Cherriman to install habitat boxes in these trees and monitor the wildlife activity. The biodiverse area of woodland became a precious feeding and breeding ground for a wide range of wildlife including black cockatoos. In September 2025, these trees were bulldozed and turned into mulch.
Each week around 100 volunteers attend our site to assist with our work: growing trees, maintaining the grounds and supporting our community education and engagement programs. These volunteers have wide ranging disabilities and health concerns – they come here to work in nature to boost their wellbeing, develop skills and make connections. Many of those volunteers use the public transport network and access our site on foot from nearby bus stops and train stations. We have significant concerns about their safety entering our site with the proposed increases in heavy vehicle traffic movement from these developments as there is no footpath.
Entering and exiting in a vehicle will also become more dangerous with increased heavy vehicle movements and no immediate provisions for changes to the existing road network. The junction of Amherst Rd/Stirling Crescent is already dangerous at peak times due to being situated on the outer point of an “elbow”.
This section of Stirling Crescent is currently a minor local road – the current road infrastructure is not wide enough to safely facilitate heavy vehicle movements and there is no turning lane from Amherst Rd into Stirling Crescent.
The total land clearance of Lot 39, which has already occurred, has had a devastating impact on local wildlife and the local environment. The established native trees which once stood there provided habitat for a wide range of bird species including Forest red tailed black cockatoos and Carnaby’s black cockatoos, both threatened species. The City of Swan Black Cockatoo Conservation Action Plan identifies that protection of existing habitat is a key priority for supporting the ongoing conservation of these precious birds within the area.
The impact of this loss of canopy on the amenity of the local area cannot be underestimated. Tree canopy can cool our suburbs by up to 10 degrees, and the significant loss of trees, followed by the installation of large areas of concrete hardstand, will have a measurable negative impact on the livability of surrounding streets. WA summer temperatures continue to break records, and globally 2025 was the third warmest year on record (behind 2023 and 2024). These trends are research-linked to growing risks of natural disasters like flash flooding and intense bushfires.
It is very disappointing to see that there is little consideration in these plans for any significant tree planting or habitat restoration actions to remediate the impacts of the enormous habitat loss that will occur.
The impact of increased traffic pollution and emissions will affect the health and wellbeing of our vulnerable volunteers. Respiratory issues are linked to high levels of emissions – many of our volunteers are elderly and at higher risk of illness. Noise pollution will also impact their mental health and wellbeing.
In 2022 we submitted a written deputation in opposition to 4.2 Proposed Local Structure Plan for Hazelmere Special Use Zone 16 (Precinct 3A). Our position remains unchanged and we continue to object to developments in this part of Stirling Crescent, Hazelmere.