street trees and water saving

I mean, really???

Who could do this to this beautiful tree?

Time for a rant about street trees. The streets of an old suburb like Bonbeach are planted with a hodge-podge of street tree species in various stages of growth and health. The earliest plantings are probably the most successful - giant flowering gums in the back-streets. The tower above the powerlines and were probably planted before power was put through. They provide sanctuary and food for flocks of rossella. Old trees in the neighbourhood reach the same heights and contribute an interesting, sheltering skyline - Norfolk Is Pines, Araucaria heterophylla, and Pinus pinea, Stone pine, though I'm not sure about this one - its massive and a darker green, maybe a Pinus densiflora.
Mixed with these are random Casuarina spp., Melaleuca spp. and various others including the subversive olives of my neighbours. The odd Pittosporum spotted about seem to have died in the drought. The one on my nature strip was, I think, Pittosporum undulatum. the council don't seem to take much notice of weed warnings. Kingston Council recently had a bit of a spree replanting dead and diseased street trees.
It caused some a lot of argument in my street which I got dragged into. The council workers who planted them told my neighbours (who were all out supervising) that they were coastal banksia (Banksia integrifolia var. integrifolia), which are indigenous to the area. Coastal banksia grow to 25m trees - surely not ideal under power lines. Anyway, the twiggy young saplings they planted have very long and markedly serrate leaves. The leaf arrangement and the leaf shape and attachment look more like Banksia serrata, the Saw Banksia. At length we decided that we liked this one better anyway and it we only grow to 16m. Given that is bound to be further hacked about by the council to protect power lines, perhaps this is a less dangerous size. They were well mulched and the council were careful not to destroy the nature strips which are planted with shrubs and ground-covers. The upside of a fairly disinterested council is that they let you do pretty much what you want. I don't think I could live in one of those designer suburbs where you can only plant specified, approved species and must paint you fence in approved colours.

My experience of the Smart Water Site.
Well, I entered information for the front garden and parking area. The site offers a lot of information to identify plants and advise on watering requirements. For anyone looking to plant a new garden or someone with limited gardening experience taking over an existing garden the site would help with planning and planting. However, I had planted my garden knowing I would not be watering very much after the initial settling in. I selected plants suitable for summer drought, adequate shade and shelter,  then composted and mulched. The watering requirements calculated by the site suggested not watering at all, which I don't. Not very helpful.
I did appreciate the site's providing plenty of photos of the plants suggested for various water requirements. Its a great help to see the plants growth habits in Australian conditions rather than European photographed books or sites. The site will be useful to me in stimulating planting ideas for future plans - I don't intend my garden to be static.