Among the arbutus, Garry oaks, red cedars, and Douglas firs lining Cordova Bay’s Wesley Road, one tree stands out as the community’s crown jewel: a 100-year-old bigleaf maple known as Mother Maple.
However, the end might draw near for this “neighbourhood landmark” as Saanich recently announced its planned removal.
In response, a group of residents is calling on the district to reverse its decision, citing the tree’s environmental and community value.
“This tree is an icon,” Lush said. “If you stop at Claremont School and look back, you see this monster tree, and we're concerned about losing it.
“The neighbourhood is just up in arms over the prospect of this tree being removed.”
Ross Ramage, a neighbour of the tree located at 5032 Wesley Rd., said he first learned about the planned removal when a notice from Saanich Parks was posted on the tree on June 30.
In an interview with Saanich News, Ramage and Lush contended that the tree’s removal is being pursued because of the tree’s declining health and to reduce costs for a nearby development of four $1.6-million luxury homes scheduled to be completed in January 2026.
Although Lush and Ramage have been in contact with both the developer and the district – who they acknowledged have been responsive to the neighbourhood’s concerns – they argued the tree’s removal shouldn’t result from “bad legislation” or because of a recent push to meet provincial housing targets.
“This is the new normal and we're all adapting to that, but it doesn't mean that we need to sacrifice the natural beauty that's been here for almost 100 years,” Ramage said.
Additionally, Lush said the tree’s declining health, caused by depleted minerals, compacted soil, and heat stress, can be remedied.
“Our position is: let us correct this,” he said. “Let us re-establish the environment here, let us mulch it, aerate it, and get it back to more of a forest floor environment, and this tree will thrive.”
And while Saanich may not have the funds to cover rehabilitation, the neighbourhood is willing to take on the cost, Lush added.
“We did say that we will undertake the expense… to re-establish a good environment for this tree, we'll take that expense on ourselves, so it'll be no cost to Saanich.”
Saanich News reached out to the developer, who declined to comment.
In a written statement, Saanich Parks explained that the tree was originally assessed in the fall of 2024. Even though it was dormant, there were indications the maple tree was healthy. This initially led staff to believe the tree could be retained, and efforts were made to mitigate impacts, including redesigning the servicing so it would go around the tree’s roots.
Saanich staff said this came at significant additional cost to the developer, but noted “everyone agreed these efforts and expenses were warranted to retain the tree.”
However, after the original assessment, staff reviewed the feasibility of keeping the tree when new information showed its health was declining, with large sections found dead. Though still alive, the tree was determined to be in poor condition.
The Saanich International Society of Arboriculture “made every attempt to retain this tree (but) staff made the difficult decision to allow this tree to be removed.”
“Saanich Parks… understands how much the community values this tree,” reads their statement, “(but) when the fact that the tree is not healthy is considered, with the cumulative impacts from development of the site, the tree was no longer considered a suitable candidate for retention.”
They added that if the tree was left undisturbed, it might have been possible to preserve it for some time. Yet, given the tree’s condition, the impacts it had already sustained, and the further impacts expected from nearby construction, the district approved its removal.
The removal work has yet to be determined.
Despite this unfavourable prognosis, the neighbourhood formed a coalition and started a petition, which has nearly 400 signatures, hoping to find a middle ground with the developer and Saanich to prevent the tree’s removal.
“It's a fixture on our street,” said Ramage. “Every morning we look at it. When we play in our front lawn, we play in its shade.”
“My kids now are growing up with this tree in their lives. We reference it a little bit every day, we play in its shade, we decorate it on holidays and it's shading part of my garden now that enables it to thrive, so it would be a huge loss.”
