An old Braddon hedge which forced the ACT government to chart a new path for pedestrians to head off a suburban stoush almost 10 years ago has had a final date with a saw.
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Dubbed the "Beast of Braddon" in 2012, during what became known as Canberra's "hedge wars", the massive border was spared the fate of most ordinary hedges when the government built a new footpath around it.
That contentious act of salvation satisfied pedestrian advocates, whose frustrations had grown at having to walk on the grass to avoid the hedge.
But reckoning for the green giant has finally come.
A man who opened door of the now hedgeless house on Chapman Street on Wednesday said he had cut it down.
"It was simply a business decision, mate," the man said, before closing the door.
The controversy of the monster hedge dates back at least 15 years and presumably much further.
In 2008, bureaucrats from Territory and Municipal Services, now the City Services Directorate, reached an agreement with the street's residents to build the new path to spare it a dramatic pruning.
The agreement noted the hedge's "age and attraction to the local streetscape".
"Following representation in 2004 to the then minister for urban services, Bill Wood, a decision was made to allow the hedge to remain given its age and attraction to the local streetscape," a spokesman for Territory and Municipal Services told The Canberra Times in 2012 after more complaints.
"Instead the local residents were asked to make a funding contribution towards widening the footpath to enable public access. This contribution was made, but unfortunately the work was not progressed."
The Chapman Street home was sold in 2010 for $1.12 million. An extension to the house has been completed in the last year.
Aerial images show a hedge planted around the house in 1955. The widened footpath still skirts a large hedge planted out the front of the house next door.
READ MORE: Hungry beast of Braddon escapes TAMS trim
Hedges are protected in the nearby heritage-registered Braddon Housing Precinct, but there are no restrictions on removing hedges from private blocks in other areas.
"Since the Second World War, Garden City planning has followed a continuous process of rationalisation to suit changing lifestyles," the citation for the precinct says.
"Key features such as the presence of central landscaped reserves overlooked by housing, the generous verge widths, generous block sizes and front setbacks and government supplied and maintained hedges have been lost or diminished."
Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
