Local council workers left residents of an affluent Sydney suburb outraged Wednesday morning after blocking an entire street to have a palm tree delivered by helicopter to a mansion in the area.
Occupants of properties surrounding Billyard Avenue, in the inner east suburb of Potts Point, say they were given no warning by the council about the impending inconvenience and told it would be at least an hour-long wait to get back to their homes.
A disgruntled local, in the car with his wife and two-year-old daughter, said one of the traffic controllers threatened to alert police if he didn’t ‘move on’ when he was trying to get home about 10.30am.
A helicopter carrying a large palm tree (pictured) left residents in Potts Point fuming Wednesday morning when the delivery caused an entire street to be blocked
The man, known only as Kane, told Daily Mail Australia the site manager had instructed a worker to threaten him with arrest if he tried to get through.
‘I could hear his boss on the radio telling him to allow no access under any circumstances, to stand in front of the car bodily if necessary and to tell me police will arrest me for assault if I don’t move on,’ he said.
Kane proceeded to inform a pair of officers who were patrolling the street and said, while they were sympathetic, they were unable to help him get home.
‘They said that all the proper permits were in place and I would have to complain to the council, State Government and the Federal aviation authority.’
Billyard Avenue was manned by traffic controllers who told a resident he would be reported to police if he drove his family home – despite residents having no warning from council about road closures
‘I received no warning of this road closure from any of the authorities listed above. It seems no one else did either.’
The property believed to be the recipient of the extravagant delivery was heritage-listed historic home, Boomerang.
The home was understood to be currently under the ownership of Lindsay Fox, the founder of Australian logistics company, Linfox.
His Spanish-style trophy home was used in the 2000 movie Mission: Impossible 2.
Several others from the ‘hundreds’ affected vented their frustration in an online community group
Kane wasn’t the only one disrupted by the road closure, with several others from the ‘hundreds’ affected venting their frustration in an online community group.
‘It’s about 30 metres from me and noisy as f***,’ one resident said.
‘No advice was provided to nearby residents about the disruption and road closures.’
‘Security behaved in a threatening manner towards residents. Rich people need to be considerate community members too,’ someone else added.
‘Are all the helicopters and sirens for THIS? WTF?! It sounds like some major police operation. Got to be a joke,’ another wrote.
The property believed to be the recipient of the extravagant delivery was heritage-listed historic home, Boomerang
The home was currently under the ownership of Lindsay Fox, the founder of Australian logistics company Linfox