Moving homes is never easy, and for the 80-year old Bayswater Kurrajong tree it was a process that started in May 2019 and finished yesterday.

More than six months ago the relocation preparation began by digging a trench around the Kurrajong tree and trimming its roots. The trench was back filled with clean loose soil to encourage establishment of new feeder roots. The tree was then closely monitored until the big moving day.

The move got off to a slow start on January 9 to make sure all care was taken as the 17-tonne Australian native tree was removed from the ground and escorted down King William Street to its new home at Bert Wright Park.

Around 100 community members came out to watch the rare sight where one crane lifted the tree before it was carefully swapped to a mobile crane to move it to its new home.

The relocation is a step forward for the Bayswater Station upgrade, with the tree’s previous location on the corner of Coode Street and Whatley Crescent to become the upgraded station’s eastern entrance.

The Kurrajong tree will now be carefully monitored for the next 12-18 months to ensure it thrives in its new environment.

The upgraded Bayswater Station will better integrate with the town centre precinct and provide enhanced pedestrian connections, more bus connections for passengers, and have platforms able to cater for six-car trains.

A construction tender for the works was released last year and will be awarded early this year.