Tree destroys couple's Sydney home after council rejected request to have it removed
A Sydney couple have been left badly shaken after a sick tree in their neighbour's yard crushed their home, almost two years after council was first notified of the danger.
A couple have been left badly shaken and with a hefty repair bill after a huge tree crashed through their home during strong winds over the weekend, completely destroying their kitchen, yard and back deck.
Sydneysiders Keli Ou and Xiaomei Sun, from Eastwood in the city's northwest, were taking a nap on Sunday afternoon when a huge tree in their neighbour's backyard toppled and came crashing down onto their property. The pair said their neighbour, Yin Huang, had complained to the City of Ryde council since early 2023 about the tree, imploring them to allow her to remove it.
According to Huang, a crack in the trunk she spotted early last year only grew bigger with time, and both she and her neighbours worried about their safety around it — so much so they opted to stay indoors during extreme weather over fears it would crumble.
Those worries were eventually realised on Sunday afternoon, with shocking footage showing the scale of the damage to the couple's home. Huge branches cracked through the kitchen ceiling, back door, and roof, decimating everything in sight.
Ou and Sun said that normally at that time on a Sunday they would have been in their kitchen having afternoon tea, but decided that day they'd take a nap — a decision that may have just saved their lives.
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"I was scared, like my god, what's going on here. [It was] like a war zone," Sun told 7News. "It was lucky we were in the front of the house, so [we] didn't get hurt."
"The damage is so huge," Ou said.
Council requested 'new application to inspect tree' days before accident
Huang told 7News she first notified Ryde Council in January of 2023 about the tree, asking for its removal. She explained that initial bid was rejected, so she made a second attempt in October of the same year, which was also knocked back. It wasn't until Huang sent photos of the cracked trunk in May and November of 2024 that she claimed council took her concerns seriously.
"They called me back on Friday and asked me to resend the application," Huang said. But by Sunday, it was too late.
In a statement to Yahoo News on Tuesday, the council confirmed earlier requests to allow removal of the tree were denied.
"The tree, which is on private land, was previously assessed as being acceptable for retention in accordance with industry accepted methodologies," a spokesperson for Ryde Council said.
"When the tree owner raised concerns about a change in its health and condition last week, they were advised that a new application for an inspection was needed and unfortunately the tree failed prior to any subsequent inspection being carried out."
Now, the parties involved have been left with a massive clean-up and to grapple with who cops the repair bill.
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