The Sunshine Coast Council has unapologetically chopped down and mulched 18 fruit trees on verges in Buderim within the hugely popular Urban Food Street (UFS) precinct.
The precinct has organically grown over the past seven years to span 11 streets in the leafy suburb, where produce grown on the verges is consumed by more than 200 people.
The area has been at the centre of a six-month stoush with the council after a complaint was made.
The council then ordered residents to obtain public liability insurance and a free permit in order to keep the trees on the footpaths.
The trees felled this morning were on the footpath of three properties where the resident had not obtained a permit.
Residents have told the ABC they were unaware of the work being done until council trucks and mulchers entered the precinct early this morning.
Chris White, a chef and resident within the UFS precinct, phoned ABC Sunshine Coast on Wednesday morning as he stood at the stumps of what were until this morning fully-laden fruit trees.
"It's a way now that they can put a concrete footpath in and it's a show of force," he said.
External Link: Video: Meet the street that grows its own food
Produce from the trees was grown for and consumed by the local community.
Read more here.
