12:00a.m. 3rd May 2008

| By Alan Lander

Could it be a Woolworths-style confrontation all over again?

The phones were buzzing in Maleny yesterday after a number of trees were felled on a central property in Coral Street.

Not only were trees coming down – the owner of the property was well-known as a prominent anti-Woolworths supermarket demonstrator.

Businessman Marek Malter yesterday had an excavator make way for a new development – behind the award-winning Barung Landcare premises.

Local resident and town historian Harvey Bryce was quick to respond.

“(The Malters) are hypocrites,” he said.

“They stood up to stop the (demolition company) Deen Brothers pulling trees down on the Woolworths site and now they are doing this without any community consultation.

Mr Bryce said he agreed with controlled development and keeping within the town plan, “but for people to scream” about one situation and carry out a similar exercise was hypocritical.

He said there had been no time to put a protection order on the trees, as had been the case with the supermarket site.

“It will be the next battleground,” Mr Bryce said.

“We have been bullied long enough by these people.”

But Mr Malter said the land was zoned commercial, and the trees were “weeds”.

“We are clearing the trees and mulching them, which will be used in the final site,” he said.

“The trees are coral trees, camphor laurel and privet.

“The land was a former cow paddock so there is no remnant rainforest,” Mr Malter, a founder member of Barung, said.

Barung Landcare president Heather Spring said the group was “aware” of the site as it was behind its premises.

“The clearing has been of weeds,” she said. “We understand Mr Malter is revegetating the site.

“From our point of view the removal of the weeds is appropriate – and even more appropriate that the site will be revegetated.”