Exclusive Insight: When Aden Barclay relocated to Neutral Bay, a suburb in Sydney’s northern region, about five years ago, he initially suspected a gas leak in his new home.

For months, Barclay was troubled by mysterious respiratory problems, never imagining that the cause could be the trees lining the street outside his residence.

“I was genuinely at a loss about the cause, and it led to panic; I struggled to sleep at night,” Barclay shared with 9news.com.au.

A petition addressing the issue has already garnered close to 100 signatures.

The North Sydney Council, however, has stated that they will not be removing the trees.

“The Council has ceased planting any new plane trees and plans to gradually phase out the existing ones in the Local Government Area,” a council spokesperson confirmed.

“However, immediately removing and replacing established plane trees is not feasible in the short term, as it would have a significant impact on the canopy cover.

“When removals are required due to poor tree health or safety risks, where feasible they are replaced with more suitable species for the streetscape and site conditions.”