Canberra's controversial tree removals may shift into the hallowed ground of the Parliamentary Triangle with a proposal to take down more than 600 trees in iconic locations, including King George Terrace and Commonwealth Park.
This time it is the National Capital Authority planning the removal within 12 months of the 617 trees, all of which are protected by the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and some of which are 80 years old.
National Capital Authority chief executive Gary Rake said it would apply to the federal Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts for approval to remove the dead or dying trees.
Mr Rake said the first 247 trees needed to be removed almost immediately and could be brought down before Easter, next April.
A further 370 trees would be removed by this time next year.
The sidelined trees were in the Parliamentary Triangle, Commonwealth Park, Kings Park, Stirling Park, Lodge Park and Dunrossil Drive.
They include elms, oaks, eucalypts and cedars. The same number of trees will be planted.
Public consultation, including information sessions and a 20-day period for comment, would be run through the federal Environment Department before any tree was touched.
Mr Rake gave a ''strong commitment'' to the community consultation but said ultimately the trees had to be removed.
''These trees are all at, or past, their safe, useful life. They're old trees that are dead or in decline,'' he said.
Mr Rake agreed the general public could not understand why apparently healthy-looking trees were being removed.
''Yes, that's always going to be a hard one for people to understand, until a tree drops a large limb or falls on their car, then they'll understand,'' he said.
Among the trees slated for removal were trees that were ''dead as a doornail'' in King George Terrace near Old Parliament House and a stand of pines infected by the sirex woodwasp at the entry to Dunrossil Drive, the road to Government House.
''In the Parliamentary Zone, yes, there will be trees that will be very obvious once they're gone,'' Mr Rake said.
He said he understood the removal of the trees in such iconic locations was likely to spark a huge public outcry. ''[If we waited] we'd then be removing them in a reactive manner, which is less efficient and would worsen our financial position and our ability to put back as many trees or as good a quality tree.''
Mr Rake said the same number of new trees would be planted.
''Wherever possible we'll be replacing like with like. And given the importance of the Parliamentary Zone, wherever possible we'll replant with advanced stock,'' he said.
The application to the department for the removal of the trees would be lodged within the next couple of weeks. ''The referral we will put to the department will have attached to it maps showing every individual tree that needs to be removed so that people have every opportunity to see what we need to do and why. And if they like they can go out and have a look at the trees and get an understanding of the issues we're facing,'' he said.
Mr Rake, who sits on a steering committee planning the ACT Government's Urban Forest Renewal Program, said no tree would be removed without good reason. The latest revelations of tree removals in Canberra came as former commissioner of the National Capital Development Commission, Tony Powell, urged the ACT Government to seek more money and technical expertise from the Commonwealth to help manage its estate of 630,000 trees.
Mr Powell said Territory and Municipal Services, already under financial pressure in the wake of a budget blow-out, did not have enough money or enough skilled staff to do the job properly. He believed the ACT Government's program of tree removal was being motivated by cost-cutting to save costs on tree maintenance.Mr Powell said the Federal Government should have overarching planning responsibility for Canberra and the National Capital Authority should be restored to a full complement of professional staff who could oversee issues such as tree maintenance territory-wide.
Territory and Municipal Services Minister Jon Stanhope's only response was: ''I welcome Mr Powell's attempts to gain Commonwealth funding support for the maintenance of Canberra's trees and I wish him the best of luck''.
A spokesman for TAMS said funding for ''tree management activities'' in the ACT had more than doubled this financial year, with $9.227million allocated compared to $4.227million the previous year.
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