And so all schools should be conducting a safety audit of trees on their grounds to ensure the Pitt Town Public School tragedy is not repeated here.

Bathurst has had two close shaves in the past few months – a tree came down in the playground at Cathedral School last August and another tree came down at All Saints’ College over the weekend – and we cannot afford to wait around for a third.

Every parent who read the tragic story of little Bridget Wright – the eight-year-old who died when a tree came down in the playground of the Pitt Town school last month – would have felt a chill of horror knowing that it could have happened anywhere.

That incident prompted the NSW Department of Education and Communities to call for a tree audit at all public schools across the state and you would expect Catholic and independent schools to follow suit.

The danger for Bathurst is the age of our schools and, so, their trees.

No tree can last forever and specimens that have stood for 80 years or more must be ringing alarm bells.

The flipside, though, is that we do not want to see sparse school playgrounds left bereft of shade and greenery.

Many school students’ fondest memories involve playing beneath the trees in their playground.

A carefully managed replacement program seems to be the answer but, of course, that costs money. And no education is flush with funds at this time.

But, as the cliche goes, you cannot put a price on a child’s safety.

We know tree tragedies can occur. We must do everything possible to ensure they don’t.