Wyndham residents have been left devastated by a Development Victoria decision to cut down what residents say are heritage trees along Geelong Road.
The state government body, which is developing Werribee’s Riverwalk estate in a joint venture with Melbourne Water, last week started cutting down sugar gum and eucalyptus trees to make way for a new display village along Geelong Road between Westleigh Drive/Newmarket Road and Alfred Road.
A service road will also be built for new homes facing Geelong Road.
Peter Vlitas from Development Victoria said the trees had been earmarked for removal since the approval of the Riverwalk development plan.
He said residents of the Riverwalk estate were notified that the trees were to be removed ahead of the works. Wyndham council had also been advised of the planned tree removal in May this year.
“We removed the trees based on the advice of an arborist who assessed the trees as being in poor health … [we] intend to plant new trees following completion of development work.”
Werribee resident Lisa Heinrichs estimates at least 150 trees had been cut down in the past week.
A small band of residents staged an early-morning protest along Geelong Road on Tuesday, holding signs and tying themselves to one of the trees in a last-ditch attempt to prevent more trees being cut down.
Ms Heinrichs said the felled trees were part of the historic Calder Memorial, which was planted in 1928.
But both Development Victoria and Wyndham council said there was no evidence to suggest that the trees formed part of an avenue of honour.
Wyndham council chief executive Kelly Grigsby said while she understood that residents were disappointed with the removal of the trees, the council was not required to issue Development Victoria with a permit to remove the trees, and could not issue a stop work order for this reason.
Werribee resident Judy Hawker said she could not understand why Wyndham council did not have a significant tree register to protect heritage trees, when so many other councils did.
“How serious are they [the council] in wanting to save our heritage?”
