Residents heartbroken at loss of mature trees
Residents of properties backing onto The Fairways estate in Drouin have been devastated by the partial removal of a row of mature gum trees late last month.
The trees were removed in sections between a row of private properties that front onto Princes Way and the area that was once the practice range of the Drouin Golf Course, now stage three of The Fairways.
While some gums remain, numerous trees have been reduced to mulch.
Jill Harris, whose boundary was once lined with a dense row of trees, can now see the development going on behind her property.
She is “heartbroken” by the removal of the gums and wants the remainder to be saved.
“We walked alongside those now extinguished trees nearly every day for over 20 years,” she said.
“We would even lie on the ground at times looking up at them marvelling at their majesty and grateful for their shade.”
“I feel guilty for being unable to save them. It’s not for lack of trying.”
Ms Harris said there was no warning of the removal of the trees and assumed they would not be removed due to a 20-metre buffer zone agreed to in 2018.
However, she has since discovered this was not the case.
In an email to Ms Harris on May 2, a Baw Baw Shire development planner said there were “no planning instruments in place to protect those trees from removal.”
“It’s clear to me that the trees in question along the boundary were designated to be removed as per the functional layout plan. However, the timing of the removal and the decision to remove them were to be made by the landowner(s),” the email stated.
“The presence (or absence) of a setback does not in itself prohibit any owner of the lot from removing them.”
Barry Dyson, who lives near Ms Harris also was unhappy with removal of the trees. He said he would have been happy for larger,
dangerous trees to be removed if deemed necessary, and replaced, but did not support all the trees being removed.
Mr Dyson estimated more than 100 mature trees had been removed.
Ms Harris said she was devastated by the removal of trees and said she and others nearby “were led to believe they were worthy of protection”.
“This particular nature corridor was worth saving as Friends of Drouin’s Trees was trying to do,” she said.
Ms Harris said before their removal the trees provided a canopy for birds, shade and privacy for nearby properties.
“The gum trees symbolise our region. They belong here. If we can’t live with them, maybe it’s us who don’t belong.”
The Gazette asked Baw Baw Shire if any changes had been made to the plan for a 20-metre setback and whether the trees were rightfully removed.
Council confirmed the “matter is currently under investigation” and they were “unable to provide further comment until that process is complete.”