NOVEMBER 22, 2017 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
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Plea to save giant oak By Benjamin Millar Pressure is mounting on Maribyrnong council to tighten tree protection rules after a developer was able to order the removal of a gigantic oak tree without a permit. Chainsawing of the beloved Footscray tree, planted in the late 1800s, began last Wednesday at the behest of the owner of the Hyde Street land containing its trunk, a local developer who also owns an adjacent property. The Footscray Historical Society says the tree is at least 120 years old. It has developed a canopy almost as large as three houses, spreading across five backyards and providing a safe habitat for birds and possums.
‘‘
To take something like this away baggars belief
’’
- Leanne Webb
Footscray residents Leanne Webb and Anthony Gleeson are distraught at moves to remove the giant oak tree. (Pictures: Benjamin Millar)
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establish the significance of the tree and, if verified, should be doing all it can to save it,” she said. Maribyrnong planning services director Nigel Higgins said the tree had not been nominated as a tree of significance with the National Trust and was not native. “The private property is in an Activity Centre Zone and requires no planning approval for
removal,” he said. The council is negotiating with the property owner about opportunities to retain the tree in its partially lopped state. Neighbours have started a petition and a Facebook group and were expected to raise the matter at Tuesday night’s Maribyrnong council meeting. The property owner declined to comment.
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Ms Walker is now petitioning the council to create its own significant tree register. A spokesman for Victorian Planning Minister Richard Wynne said the onus was on councils to identify which trees should be protected. That view was backed by Footscray MP Marsha Thomson. “Council should be doing all it can to 12363036-PB35-17 10057191-21
Dr Greg Moore, chair of the National Trust’s Significant Tree Committee, said the tree would have qualified for the trust’s listing in its original state, but might now fail given about a third of its canopy had been destroyed. “This tree was a spectacular oak tree,” he said. “It’s a real shame what is happening here.” Dr Moore said he had written to all Melbourne councils at least three times in the past decade imploring them to create their own significant tree registers. Neighbour Lesley Walker decried the removal of scarce greenery in an area already critically short of trees. “I heard one arborist was asked to do the job and he refused, so they asked another,” she said. Neighbour Leanne Webb said the arborist was displeased when she refused to allow him access to her property, stalling the tree’s removal. “To take something like this away beggars belief,” she said. Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria arborist James Shugg, who visited the oak tree on Friday, is upset at such “a fine specimen” being destroyed. He warns Melbourne is already losing many of its older trees and this will have a profound effect on the city’s quality of life. In Hobsons Bay, no tree with a trunk diameter more than 45 centimetres at a height of 1.5 metres from the ground can be removed without a permit. Maribyrnong has no such rule.