business - 2026-06-15

Newport resident says council-backed tree stump planter project has stalled

Source: www.northernbeachesadvocate.com.au

A Newport resident says an effort to brighten the suburb with flower-filled tree stumps has stalled after Northern Beaches Council helped install the first three planters but did not proceed with the remaining three. Patsy Fry says the project matters because Newport needs more colour and a stronger sense of identity if it is to attract people into the town centre rather than remain a place people pass through.

A Newport resident says an effort to brighten the suburb with flower-filled tree stumps has stalled after Northern Beaches Council helped install the first three planters but did not proceed with the remaining three. Patsy Fry says the project matters because Newport needs more colour and a stronger sense of identity if it is to attract people into the town centre rather than remain a place people pass through. Fry said she wants to use tree stumps as flowerpots along Newport's centre strip, describing it as a simple way to make the suburb more distinctive. Her longer-term idea is for the stumps to run through the length of Newport, creating a visual feature that residents and visitors would associate with the area. She said the idea came to her after seeing a tree cut down and asking council to keep it for her. Fry said she did not expect that request to succeed, but the tree was retained and later cut into pieces of different heights, giving her the raw material for the planter project. Fry said she then spent months turning the timber into usable planters. She said she chiselled out the middle of each stump, sealed them, arranged drainage and filled them with soil, producing...