Photo: Tree Works
by Thinus Ferreira
Praise be! Hacked off trees mutilated to clear space for bigger visibility of a Showmax billboard will be restored says the Hyde Park Corner shopping centre in Johannesburg following an utter arbour uproar.
Motorists and the public were shocked when around 8 indigenous and mature Fever trees were horrifically "trimmed" to the point of destruction last week outside the shopping mall in Johannesburg's elite Hyde Park suburb.
The fever trees that were destroyed were those in front of a Showmax billboard for the American The Handmaid's Tale drama series. The specific line of trees were cut down since they were blocking the concrete wall advertising billboard facing towards motorists on William Nicol Drive. Trees not in front of billboards were left intact.
A posting by Tree Works went viral on social media and reached over 11 000 people within days on Facebook.
Hyde Park Corner shopping centre says that butchering the fever trees was not the intention and blames the people the centre pays for landscaping maintenance. "The trees were trimmed, however there was a miscommunication and they were cut shorter than we would like. The service provider has apologized and will be donating trees overseen by the Johannesburg City Parks".
"We had an arborist assess the trees and we have been assured that they will grow back. Hyde Park Corner takes enormous pride in its landscaping and the heritage of its trees," the shopping mall says.
A Showmax spokesperson said to TVwithThinus on Wednesday that "Does Showmax
support the butchering of trees? Absolutely not".
"We were as horrified as the
public to see what happened to these beautiful trees. Hyde Park Corner has
since explained what happened and thankfully the trees are going to be OK".
