Council accused of not supporting locals
Peter and Ray Hickson are one of the lucky couples in their nineties still living together in their own home in the Scenic Rim.
They are proud of the fact that they keep their property in Blue Gum Drive, Wonglepong in tip top shape.
That’s why when a large tree limb crashed into their backyard from an adjoining council property they expected it would be no issue for council to come and remove it.
Unfortunately they soon found out that when debris from council land crashes into your yard it’s not just a case of one of their gangs coming out and taking a chainsaw to it.
Peter, who recently turned 94, was told that Scenic Rim Council’s current policy was not to undertake work on private property for such matters.
A council spokesperson said In cases where the property owner did not have insurance to cover this, and if the property owner believed the damage was due to council’s negligence, council would only then assess their claim.
To do this Peter was told he needed to fill out a form as outlined on the council website under the heading “Lodging a Claim against council”.
“I was advised if I was confused by the process I could discuss this instead on the phone with a council officer which I did,” he said.
“The answer I got has left me feeling that council is not supporting local residents.
“They said I need to have the tree limb removed myself, claim it on my insurance and then apply to the council for a possible reimbursement.
“As we are into our nineties I was hoping we might have received a little compassion, but we were flatly refused.”
The Hicksons also called in their local councillor Kerri Cryer for help and she did inspect their backyard damage.
“I wanted to help them if I could, but everyone is bound by current council policies,” she said.
“For cases such as this I would like to see council review these regulations and I am currently looking into this.”
“We need to know how often this is happening in the area, especially in the wake of the number of severe storms we’ve recently experienced.”
