Landmark Norfolk gets the chop

Council's tree maintenance coordinator Mark Cronin at the historic tree.

PERCHED high above Austinmer Beach, workers began the arduous task of removing one of the suburb's historic Norfolk Island pines on Monday.

Wollongong City Council has been monitoring the 30-metre high tree for about five years and recently decided the pine was posing an unacceptable risk to the public.

"It's got to the stage where it's not going to recover," said council's tree maintenance coordinator Mark Cronin.

"Generally the trunks are quite stable, but there's certainly a risk of branches falling down."

A similar pine collapsed at Sandon Point during wild weather last month.

That tree had been a victim of vandalism, but Mr Cronin said there was no evidence that this had caused the death of the Austinmer pine.

He said the tree's decline was likely the result of root damage done during the extension of the nearby Austinmer Surf Club in the mid 1980s.

"Things that take a long time to grow, often take a long time to die," Mr Cronin said.

The tree's close proximity to the surf club and the busy Lawrence Hargrave Drive make the felling unusually difficult.

Mr Cronin said the process would take most of the week, with workers using ropes and harnesses to remove the branches and a cherry picker to take down the trunk.

Planted over 100 years ago, the tree is one of about 25 Norfolk Island pines scattered along Austinmer Beach.

The species is listed in the LEP (local environment plan) as locally significant and Mr Cronin said he would consider planting a new tree to replace the iconic pine.