KINGSVILLE residents upset at the removal of healthy street trees are calling on Maribyrnong council to listen to community views.
The council has been chopping down mature trees in Coronation and Queensville streets under a 15-year-old street tree strategy, despite a new plan being ready for tabling at the city development special committee meeting on July 30.
Mark Stacey, Kingsville resident and founding member of Save SKY (Seddon, Kingsville and Yarraville) Streetscapes, said the new street tree planting strategy had undergone considerable community consultation and prohibited the removal of “non-diseased or non-dangerous trees”.
“I have had a lot of discussion with the council about the level of consultation they are basing this [current chopping of trees] on. The situation is a mess. Their actions are not well justified, they pay contempt to true community consultation and are at times in breach of their existing policies and protocols.”
The Save SKY Streetscapes group has almost 30 members and has set up a Facebook page.
Mr Stacey said the council appeared to be using a loophole where a tree type’s “desirability” could be a rationale for wide-scale removal of healthy trees.
Yarraville ward councillor Martin Zakharov said he was confident council experts would be removing only those trees that were necessary for road and utility improvements or to protect homes.
“When you do work, there is often the chance you will damage the root system and the trees don’t survive – you have to balance that.”
Cr Zakharov said street trees would always be a divisive issue.
