GEORGE NEWS -   The giant eucalyptus trees on the Fancourt Estate along the Malgas River opposite Heather Park should have been removed many years ago, according to Don Wilkin, a local property developer.

Wilkin says he bought land on the eastern side of the river from the George Municipality in 1993 and, with its permission, began cutting down the blue gum and wattle trees in the river in order to improve the view from his land. 

When Fancourt bought the land on the other side of the river in 1996, Wilkin was instructed by the municipality to stop the tree removal because "Fancourt wanted a screen between their golf course and the neighbours".

Wilkin says a few years later, Fancourt applied to the municipality to buy the land below his property - including the river - which was zoned a public open space. 

"As children used to play in the river and it was extensively used by walkers and horse riders, there was a public outcry, and I along with 48 other signatories objected to the sale of this land. At a meeting at the municipal offices, the objectors agreed to waive their objection to the sale on condition that certain clauses were included in the deed of sale. These included cutting down all the alien trees in the river and giving access to the residents of Heather Park."

Fancourt produced three separate alien management plans between October 2003 and approximately 2006, all of which stipulated that all the trees in the river would be eradicated within a period of three years. "These plans have all been ignored. Request after request was made to the municipality, who seemed unable to enforce the conditions on Fancourt, although they were aware of the national concern about water shortage."

In response to Wilkin's concerns, Fancourt's marketing director, Leroy Ferreira, said Fancourt follows an alien invasive species control and management plan approved by the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DFFE) in 2023. He referred the newspaper to the department. "We are not the authors of the agreement, thus we cannot comment on the details thereof. We can confirm that this agreement includes annual audits from the DFFE to ensure compliance."

The municipality's Parks and Recreation Department said the enforcement of alien invasive species control on private and public properties falls under the mandate of the DFFE, which is responsible for imposing compliance.

Debra Sauer, the municipality's communications officer, said Fancourt confirmed to the Planning and Development Directorate that it has been in consultation with the DFFE since 2007 regarding its alien invasive species management plan. 

"An updated version of this plan was approved by the DFFE in December 2016. Following the Covid-19 period, Fancourt submitted a revised five-year plan in 2022, which was also accepted by the department. The estate is currently in the third year of implementation of this five-year plan."

She said the approved plan is required to demonstrate "progressive year-on-year reduction targets (percentage-based) rather than a fixed completion date". The DFFE audits progress on an annual basis.

The DFFE did not respond to the newspaper's request for comment.

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