No one likes to be taken unawares.

When Nancy Morris saw council workers tearing down the fence along the Lagoon Street boundary of Riddles Oval last Friday, she wanted to know what was going on.

Mrs Morris, who lives opposite the oval asked the workers and says she was told that street parking was going in, and the row of trees would have to be moved and work was starting in earnest on Monday. Furious, she rang the Argus on Friday afternoon.

“In other places they’re planting trees and here they are talking about tearing them down. I like looking at greenery across the road.

“They reckon the corellas were a menace to the trees on the oval - I say look at the council!”

Goondiwindi Regional Council’s Director of Engineering Dave Burges, who came down for an impromptu meeting at Riddles Oval, said he wished people would contact the Council with their concerns instead of the Argus.

Mr Burges said plans for the redevelopment of the entire frontage of the Riddles Oval complex were available and that the Goondiwindi Sport and Recreation Association had been part of the consultation process.

“We’re hoping to make the entrance to Riddles Oval better.

“I don’t like to see acres of bitumen, either.

“We’re going to put in trees and garden beds.

“I acknowledge we may not be able to save the trees that are already there, but we will try to move them and we’ll do our best to save the Currajong,” Mr Burges said.

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Mrs Morris said it might be fair enough to try to transplant the jacarandas, but she said she doubted whether the Currajong tree would survive.

“They’ve got a tap root and they’re very slow-growing. I’ve been told that tree has been there for 30 years. I won’t live enough to see the new ones grow,” she said.

Mrs Morris was also concerned about the removal of the trees in planter boxes on the other side of the road in front of her house.

Mrs Morris said it might be fair enough to try to transplant the jacarandas, but she said she doubted whether the Currajong tree would survive.