Fight for trees
A stand of trees, some more than 300 years old, needs to be protected from a proposal to develop 22 townhouses in Drouin, according to community members.
Members of the Friends of Drouin’s Trees group fear development of 22 dwellings on land between Monica Drv and McNeilly Rd could spell the end to a precious stand of trees listed on the town’s significant tree register.
While the planning application lodged with Baw Baw Shire does not propose to remove the trees, many submissions to council have already outlined concerns about the development’s impact on the native vegetation.
“Our fear is once people move in there is no protection of those trees,” said Friends of Drouin’s Trees member Jenny Date. “It should be a protected area.”
Council officers met with friends group members on site last Wednesday.
The application for 22 dwellings, with access from Monica Drv, is currently on public exhibition.
Friends of Drouin’s Trees members have lodged many submissions.
Group convenor Judy Farmer said it was a bad design to have 22 dwellings on the site. The stand of trees, within the unmade road reserve of McNeilly Rd, is listed on the Drouin significant tree register. But, Mrs Farmer said the register provided no policy or protection for council to enforce in planning matters.
Mrs Farmer said trees were destroyed for the Crystal Waters residential estate in Drouin. “Council told us that would never happen again… but here we are again.”
Council confirmed it has received an application and would consider submissions until the matter is determined by council at a future meeting.
A previous application for a 27 dwelling development on the 1.4 hectare site was refused by council in September 2015.
The application, now with 22 dwellings, has been resubmitted to council.
The dwellings are proposed to be developed on vacant land between Monica Drv and the stand of trees within an unmade section of McNeilly Rd. Access to the townhouses would be via 61 Monica Drv where an access road would be constructed.
When the application was considered in 2015, the planning report to council said a 30 metre buffer should be included between the dwellings and tree reserve.
Officers said “approval of this development would deem the trees lost.”
The trees register states the bushland is “irreplaceable.”
The register says it’s a large remnant group of more than 40 Mountain Greys, Strzelecki gums, peppermints and other difficult to identify gums stood 35 to 50 metres high and some were 300 to 350 years old.
“This is a magnificent area of remnant bush or urban forest and this should be very high on the heritage list and preserved at all costs,” the register states. The bushland also formes a major corridor for birds and animals and is said to be vitally important for the health of the McNeill Rd wetlands.
Mrs Date said the housing development would threaten the area’s unique environmental qualities and the application should be considered a “test case” for council.
“Whilst there is no plan to remove the trees, if the development goes ahead, given the lack of buffer between trees and houses which the developer has failed to allow for, it will be inevitable that new residents will demand the removal of many of the trees, based on safety concerns.
“Protection needs to be of the highest order. At present Baw Baw Shire has little in the way of any environmental, landscape or vegetation overlays so the significant tree register has no real teeth. We do not want Drouin to become another Pakenham,” she said.
Mrs Farmer said their fight to save the trees was not just about the McNeilly Rd reserve.
“There are 20 other reserves around the town that face exactly the same problem if we don’t put something in place,” she said.
The Friends of Drouin’s Tree group also has written to state Energy, Environment and Climate Change Minister Lily D’Ambrosio seeking her support.