According to the option 1 released in 2013 which had an interchange with M4 East near Ashfield Park, Yasmar was to lose 40m of its front garden, including the entry gate, outer and inner fences, shrubberies on the east and west of the drive(including a large a number of significant shrubs, trees which are extremely rare). A distance of 40m in from the Parramatta road’s current edge was to be dug up and lost, for a cut and fill tunnel, then roofed and replanted. The above preliminary design concept received huge criticism from public. (J Quoyle 2014, pers. comm. 17 …show more content…
However the preferred option led to removal of two heritage items along the Chandos Street and some significant item along the Parramatta road. The preferred option included a gradual widening of the road verge to the southern half frontage, and addition of a row of large eucalypt street trees to the verge within this widened area. The addition of street trees in front of the Yasmar garden will result in overcrowding of vegetation along the Yasmar frontage and potentially affect three existing Morton Bay figs which are considered to be heritage significance. One of the fig tree has its canopy spreading across one and a half lanes of southbound traffic while the canopies of the remaining trees extend to the existing Parramatta Road kerb. The existing distinctive ‘forest’ edge of Yasmar is a visually prominent element along the car-parking, slow moving Parramatta