Australian Capital Territory
Place: York Park North Tree Plantation

Threat: Destruction and damage

Significance of Place

York Park North Tree Plantation is a plantation of English oak trees (quercus robur), which is significant as the only one of six commemorative plantings undertaken in Canberra in the late 20’s / early 30s still remaining largely intact. The inaugural planting was done in May 1927 by the Duke of York, in association with the opening of the Provisional Parliament House. The formality evident in the plantation has created a landscape with substantial historic significance.

The formal arrangement of the oak plantation and the use of a large number of a single species in wide spacing are unusual. There are six rows of trees, each originally of 13 trees. While several trees have been removed and two dead trees remain in situ the plantation remains largely as originally conceived.

Description of Threat

The integrity and future of the plantation is threatened by the proposal by the Federal Department of Finance and Administration to dispose of the site and permit the construction of an office complex with associated car parking. Of immediate concern, is the stressed condition of the plantation, reflecting a long period of neglect by the Commonwealth authorities.

Action Required
An immediate program of care for the plantation should be implemented by DOFA. This would involve moving the boundary of the car park to prevent further compaction under the trees, removal of invasive weed species, appropriate tree pruning and the erection of a better log barrier on the northern, western and eastern boundaries.

York Park North has been listed on the new Commonwealth Heritage List, with a commitment in its citation that protection of the plantation is part of the development being taken into account in the divestment proposal. It is now time for that commitment to be acted upon. Short-term care is required immediately, and in the longer term, the heritage values must be fully protected in any divestment through an unequivocal commitment from the Commonwealth that the integrity and heritage significance of the plantation will be maintained.

The ACT Trust is supported in this nomination by a number of community organisations including ACT for Trees, the Canberra and District Historical Society, the Australian Institute of landscape.