To: Darebin Council
Tell Darebin Council: protect our local quiet life
We call on the Darebin Council to remove the light installation in the 17 trees that line High Street, between Walker Street and Westgarth Street.
We respect the work of the artist involved in designing the interactive installation; however the dynamic display emits light and noise pollution that is harmful and disruptive to both day-time and nocturnally active wildlife who use the trees as habitat.
The beautiful trees that line our main street are unique in the area and are better suited to more aesthetically appropriate and less intrusive creative activities.
Why is this important?
Quiet life is how the indigenous people describe our native wildlife - flying foxes, birds, possums, and many, many others. Although the health of the trees and safety for local traffic has been assessed, the impact of the light-and-sound art installation on the wildlife who live and utilise the trees on High St has not.
The design of the artwork is such that, at regular intervals, a high-pitched frequency is emitted before a series of LED lights in the trees illuminate synchronously. This synthetic audio-visual activity is highly disruptive to the natural habits and rhythms of native wildlife in the trees.
There are many ways that the 17 trees on High Street can be used to enhance and enliven the local area and we support the use of local artists in making this happen. We believe, however, that the Darebin Council needs to ensure that any project receiving local government support does not compromise the health and well-being of our neighbourhood fauna; we call on the Council to remove the current installation in favour of a more appropriate project that aligns with this objective.
How it will be delivered
The signatures of this petition will be delivered to Kim Le Cerf, Mayor of Darebin, who is aware of this problem and must be shown the community support for correcting it.