If you’ve got something to tell us relating to the Save our Trees campaign the Co-Op Forum is now open to record your comments.
VCAT Practice Day Hearing
On Friday April 5th, VCAT set aside the application by Emerald Judith Dunn to have her case against the Council tree clearing permit decision heard by the Tribunal. The issue in the case was whether a change to Macedon Ranges Planning Scheme had a retrospective effect to take away a right in relation to a permit that had been issued before the change came into effect. Despite the enormous amount of work put into the applicant’s arguments, they failed because VCAT adopted a retrospective interpretation. We argued comprehensively about the inappropriate legal ramifications of the Tribunal taking this course. VCAT found on a preliminary issue raised by council, that a permit is no longer needed to take trees out. It was disappointing that our arguments were not specially addressed by VCAT. Emerald now has 28 days to challenge the VCAT decision in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Save our Trees Petition
The VCAT decision in Emeralds case,by indicating a permit is not required by Council to destroy the trees, arguabley means that in the Macedon Ranges the destruction of trees is no longer a matter dealt with by the planning scheme. This opens up the use of an administrative appeal procedure based on the Climate Act 2017 and its schedule. To open up an administrative review by Council, we have tabled the 1500 strong community petition. Our cover photo shows Berenice Snowden completing that task in the early morning on Tuesday outside the Council’s Kyneton office. We will proceed to send our arborists report(see next section) to assist the council in their decision making regarding the proposed removal of the trees. In a nutshell our arborists report advises that only one tree should be removed and replaced..
Co-Op Tree Report
Our arborists report is a rejection of the Council’s assessment. It is worth while going to the trouble of comparing them side by side.
Co-Op Tree Report
Council Tree Report
Here are some pertinent observations from Arborcraft tree report
3.4 The trees provide moderate to high significance to the local amenity mostly through social sentiment and shade/cooling. The trees are not specifically mentioned in any known heritage statement of significance although may be form part of:
- HO13: Avenue of Elm Trees along Beauchamp Street, Kyneton (from Mollison to Edgecombe Streets). The trees do not form a consistent planting distance with roadside trees along Beauchamp Street however are consistent in species and age and are highly visible from Beauchamp Street.
- Shire of Kyneton Conservation (Heritage) Study Vol. 1 (Bick, Murphy, Patrick, & Priestley, 1990). Page 81, Objectives of Planning, 1. (c) states: The objectives of planning in this area (Mollison Street) are to encourage the retention of 19th and early 20th century (pre-1930) plantings that are not individually listed where these elements make a positive contribution to the streetscape.
The aim of the Co-Op Tree Report is to explore ideas which will both expand the netball facilities so they stay adjacent to the football oval and save our trees. We can help navigate the community and the council to a win/win solution.
Congratulations again to all those who named and donated $100 per tree to raise funds to revive the VCAT case. The cost of our arborist’s report requires a further $200 per tree. Here is a list of the trees numbered as they appear in the Showgrounds Masterplan
Infinity (funded)
Rails (funded)
Imagine
Ned Kelly (funded)
Estinajoe (funded)
Brian
Samaritan
Codybay
Hugh and Jenny
Margaret (funded)
You can donate what you can afford at our street stall on Saturday mornings between 9 a,m, and 1p.m. It’s a little sad that , by adopting the Co-Op report, we will need to replace tree No.9 (Hugh and Jenny). I have spoken to Fiona, the donor of this tree, and she is okay with replacing it to save the other nine trees.
If you want to make a direct donation here are the banking details:
Kynerton and District Town Square Co-Op
BSB 633000
A/C No.164250581
Bendigo Bank
Make sure you reference the Tree Report and if its okay with you… your name.
Congratulations Kyneton…our petition has just pipped the 500 mark. Catch us outside IGA this Saturday.
There was a lot of loose talk about the health of showgrounds elm trees in the street last week. Can you answer this week’s question. The elm tree in the picture below is flourishing. The same tree is chockers with elm leave beetle and has not been treated. So why is it so healthy?
Background
The 10 trees on the corner of Mollison Street and Beauchamp Street are significant features of the Kyneton Showgrounds and Kyneton’s landscape and charm. They are part of an important green gateway to the town centre from the north. Trees have a substantial impact on moderating local temperatures during hot summers, which is becoming increasingly important with rising global temperatures. These mature elms offer habitat for wildlife, carbon storage, oxygen, air filtering, and over 100 meters of shade in summer. At the Kyneton Show their shade provided a beautiful surround for picnics, pony rides and Parkour. If you value the trees at $100,000 each, we stand to lose one million dollars of community assets if we cut them down.
PETITION
Mayor and Councillors of the Macedon Ranges Shire Council, we the undersigned, petition Macedon Ranges Shire Council, as of Friday January 5th, to reconsider the decision by the council to adopt option 1 of the Showgrounds Master Plan to cut down ten mature elm trees to expand the netball facilities. We ask the council to re-examine and adopt a version of option 2 which retains the elm trees, future proofs the netball project with the possibility of three courts instead of just two and, in addition, could make the expansion of facilities adjacent the lower oval a huge positive for a diverse range of sporting and recreational users.
