By Charlene Macaulay
A new community group has launched a campaign to save what’s left of the historical Avenue of Honour and Calder Memorial trees planted along Geelong Road in Werribee.
The Wyndham Community Activists Group held its first meeting last week in response to a series of tree removals at Riverwalk estate in the past 12 months, including the felling of more than 200 trees last August.
In the past month, Riverwalk estate developers Development Victoria has cut down one more tree. It plans to remove two more Monterey cypress trees, which are believed to have been planted during the 1920s as part of the Calder Memorial, in memory of William Calder, the first chairman of the Country Roads Board.
Group member Lisa Heinrichs said she had been in talks with the National Trust about getting the remaining Geelong Road trees added to the National Register of Significant Trees.
She said that would hopefully result in the trees being added to the council’s local heritage overlay, which would give them a greater chance of being protected by being added to the Heritage Victoria register.
“It doesn’t matter how many new trees you plant, you can’t replace the history,” Ms Heinrichs said.
The group will meet again on August 2. Details: facebook.com/WyndhamCommunityActivistsGroup
