Trees fall victim to town’s growth
While welcoming growth and the benefits it brings to the community, long time residents John and Judy Farmer are concerned environmental planning is not playing the role it should.
A row of trees in Weebar Rd, Drouin is the latest “victim” of development in Drouin.
As hundreds of residential lots are developed off Weebar Rd, new roads and infrastructure are being built and more trees are lost.
In this case, it is Baw Baw Shire who has applied to remove nine trees from the Weebar Rd road reserve.
It is a move that has angered many residents, including two primary school children who have written to council voicing their objections.
Tilly Kensley and Jade Harris have written to the shire. They want to save the trees because “they are beautiful” and home to lots of animals.
On the Drouin precinct structure plan, the trees are identified as “existing trees to be retained.”
When the Drouin precinct structure plans were developed in 2014, the Farmers were involved in the process and had a lot of input. They cared about the future of their town, and with significant growth predicted, they wanted to protect what was important to them – the environmental identity and landscape of Drouin.
The Farmers bought their 4.5-hectare Lardner Rd property 36 years ago. In the near future, they will have 86 houses built on the boundary.
They know “change will come” and houses will be built, but their fear is development is occurring at the expense of what Drouin is known for – its rural environment.
Mrs Farmer said the PSP had failed to identify trees and landscapes of value and did not provide regulations or overlays to protect existing environmental assets.
She said planning protocols focussed on roads, drains, utilities, fences and paths, “which are important but always at the expense of the significant trees and tree corridors.”
Mrs Farmer said after the removal of significant trees during development of the Crystal Waters estate, the Friends of Drouin’s Trees group was guaranteed that loss would never happen again.
She said former chief executive officer Helen Anstis guaranteed council would establish regulations and policies to protect trees in development.
“They have all these motherhood statements about protecting our green landscapes. If they believe that then it’s time to do something about it.
“I don’t think the environment gets a guernsey in their consideration.
“The experts say if we are going to make a difference with climate change in population growth, we need to preserve what we have and plant more.
Mrs Farmer said the town was losing history and culture when trees were removed at the expense of development.
“Weebar Rd is full of that history and no-one is raising the flag to say this is important. It’s one of the most beautiful corridors in Drouin with its overarching branches.
“But all these things are disputed because the PSP has failed to identify them.
“No amount of tree offsets planted in another location can account for the loss of mature trees and tree corridors in a certain place,” she said.
Mr Farmer said council needed to allocate and invest funds into environmental strategic planning staff and policies.
With 27 per cent growth in Drouin and nine per cent growth in Warragul, environmental planning needed to be a higher priority.
But, he said, council’s budget was constantly restricted in a rate cap environment.
He said it was “ridiculous” in a growth municipality to be restricted in the amount of rates raised for important projects.
“I’d happily pay more than last year but council isn’t allowed to collect it,” he said.