Save our Trees

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.

PRESS RELEASE
The Death of Democracy in the Macedon Ranges
​ An Open Letter to the M.R.S.C. Mayor and Councillors

It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that I write this letter to you on
behalf of the Co-op and the petitioners who asked you to save the historic
elm trees in the Kyneton Showgrounds.
As you recall we approached you with a request and proposal to save the
trees that Council had earmarked for destruction to make way for a netball
court. We spent a great deal of time, and raised money from the community
to get an independent report on the condemned trees for you to consider
as part of your decision making process. We made the report available to
you and asked for the opportunity to talk to the report before a decision
was made but you denied us that opportunity.

You gave a list of lame excuses, as to why after you made your decision you
could not change the outcome. You told us you had read the report and had
taken it into account. You said it was really an administrative matter for
Council Officers not a policy matter for Councillors and on and on.

We sought advice from well informed community members, and were told
that simply reading an alternative report and taking it into account is not
always enough to meet the requirements of natural justice. Sometimes it is
necessary to give the submitter the opportunity to actually address the
issues face to face. Since we had gone to the extent of raising money and
using it for an independent expert’s report to inform the decision, this was
a case where an audience was the proper course.

We were also advised that there is a dichotomy between policy and
operational decisions. Local government policy is a matter for council and
the operation of giving effect to policy is an obligation of officers and
employees of the Shire for which the CEO is responsible. We were also told
that there is no bright line between policy and operational matters. Where
the line is in any given case depends on the circumstances, and in particular
on whether or not the Council believes the officers’ attempt to implement
its policy is within the policy or not. In the latter case the Council could and
should have intervened. We sought to argue that killing all the trees was
inconsistent with other policies of the Council and therefore Council should
revoke the authority given to the officer’s. We pursued a meeting with
Council to have the opportunity of discussing these matters and putting
forward a win/win version of Option Two. We requested Council as a
matter of goodwill to hold off the killing of the trees until we could make
this important presentation to the Councillors.

On Wednesday July 3rd I drove down Beauchamp Street on my way to
interview one of our petitioners in preparation for a video we intended to
use as part of our Council presentation. To my horror and dismay the trees
were being cut down in front of my very eyes. I was not alone in being
shocked to the core by what seemed like a premeditated act of betrayal.

I then drove to my interview and suggested to the participant that we go
back to the showgrounds and film the video with the destruction going on
in the background. I recommend you all watch the video footage . The concerns this resident expresses in the video ( above
the noise of the chainsaws) are shared by many.

We took photos and what they showed totally upset us. The trunks lined up
showed all but one of the trees were perfectly healthy.

This was entirely consistent with the report we commissioned and provided
to you which you chose to ignore. We enclose them for you to look at and
consider your actions.

I spoke to the contractor early on Thursday. The logs were being removed
and I wanted to find out what was happening to them…would they beavailable to residents? The answer was a clear no. He told me that the
contractual arrangement with Council allowed him to mill the excellent
timber (solid and disease free) with his Lucas sawmill. So much for the trees
being riddled with disease and a risk to the public.

The Co-Op Tree Group’s proposal to allow our members to help the Council
reduce the long term cost of care for the trees by mulching in the spring
and watering the trees in the autumn is now a pointless gesture.

The Showgrounds saga is not over yet though. Because the trees have now
been removed before our presentation, the context of our address to
Council needs to widen to deal with what is rotten in the state of Denmark.
This disgraceful act of destruction points to some deep problems with
Council processes of consultation.

Yes they professionally consulted user groups over a long period.
Yes they advertised the tree removal with residents living close by.

The failure of the Council’s consultation process was that Kyneton and
District residents were not successfully incorporated into the consultation process.
The Shire News for instance, had nothing in it about the trees coming down.
The alarm bells should have started ringing when only twelve people
turned up to the open forum.
Very few people were aware of the threat to the trees.

As galling and disrespectful the closing down of the petitioner’s case has
been, it follows an all too familiar pattern. During my thirty-five years in
Kyneton I have participated in quite a few, what I believe, were flawed local
and state government consultations hell bent on top down decision making.
There is an urgent need to improve the democratic credentials of our
consultation processes. The community needs to be empowered to step up
to the role of a co-designer and assert their right to agency about what
happens where they live.

Here is a very recent example of why the current processes are viewed with
suspicion by Kyneton residents.

We are about to go into what we believe is an incredibly brief four week
consultation period to finalise Kyneton’s urban design framework. Ideally
the community needs 16 weeks not 4 weeks to read, understand,
deliberate and form a position on this work.The Co-Op Board urges you to
push the closing date for the framework consultation back to November.

The document contains many commendable ideas but unfortunately there
are a plethora of contentious issues proposed.

Here is just one of those contentious issues.
The Kyneton Urban Design Framework plans to remove the Lions kiosk from
its present ideal location. To our knowledge the community has made it
very clear over many many years that the Lions pavilion is a much loved,
delightful little building located in a perfectly central position in the Town
Square to serve the needs of community groups. Its ideal position will only
be strengthened as the Town Square is expanded and developed in
Kyneton’s heart.
Residents do not want it moved!

Our Council Presentation
The removal of the trees has not eliminated the obvious potential of Option
Two from the Masterplan. The Co-Op’s presentation to the Council will
include not just a further defence of Option Two but also, given the failings
of democratic process, the suggestion of the formation of a working group
to look at ways we can improve the local government decision making
processes in the Macedon Ranges Shire.

I just want you all to understand how the Co-op members feel about this
saga. We feel the Councillors never intended to listen to us. Despite the fact
that we had extensive community support as evidenced by the petition we
lodged with Council, and despite our bona fide offers to find an acceptable
solution for the whole community you ignored us. You treated us as a
troublemaking group of obstructionists, not as concerned citizens who you
represent. You acted like a bunch of know-it-alls who knew what was best
without listening to the community, a paternalistic approach of the like that
has condemned decision making in the past. You had no appetite for
innovative thinking. You trashed all the hard work we did and simply mouthed excuses so you could justify what you did. We feel betrayed by
your conduct towards us. We felt vilified by your disrespect towards our
best intentions.
Yours faithfully,
Rob Bakes on behalf of the Co-Op Board 0427580803

This Showgrounds Elms Newslatter brings some disturbing news… 1. the rejection of residents’ right to reasonable democratic process by our elected Councillors and particually our three West Ward Councillors. 2. Our Councillors have treated the community with absolute contempt by voting on this matter before the petitioners’ were given a chance to present a different view of the issue. 3. Complete indifference by the Mayor Cr. Annette Death to the request by the petiitioners last Monday to present their case to Council before a vote was taken.  This is how Democracy malfunctioned in the Macedon Ranges last Week. The community presented 1500 signatures which raised an important issue with Council. The issue was of such concern that residents willingly donated almost three thousand dollars to have the matter heard by VCAT and also to commission a $2000 tree report. Despite this painstaking preparation, the Petitioners were never allowed by despotic council action to present their case to their elected Councillors before a vote was taken to remove the trees.  . The huge effort put in by so many residents to build a solid case for the retention of the trees was never properly considered by our local government leaders. We were prevented from putting the arguments which have been worked on at a community level for many months.  To add insult to injury the disgraceful Council brush-off was led by our three elected West Ward Councillors. Mark Ridgeway put the motion. Janet Pearce seconded the motion. Jennifer Anderson spoke in favour as well.  All this took place without any presentation of the community’s position.  Here is the motion put by Cr. Mark Ridgeway without the benefit of hearing the petitioners’ case. Please note Item number four. That Council: 1.Notes the petition received from community members requesting Council re-consider the planned removal of ten elm trees to expand netball facilities at the Kyneton Showgrounds 2.Notes that an independent arborist report has shown that the ten trees are either nearing end of life or in a declining state due to their age, thereby posing a risk to community safety. 3.Acknowledges the extensive community and user group consultation process that Council undertook on the Kyneton Showgrounds Masterplan.  4.Proceeds with removing the ten trees, noting that they will be replaced with new trees following construction activities. Here is a link to last week’s fatal council meeting. (start viewing at 54minutes) So do we lie down and let this happen or do we stand up for democracy? It’s ironical that we have just acknowleged last week, on Anzac day, the sacrifice in war of Australians who died for freedom. There are none so deaf than lose who refuse to hear.  The loss of these trees may seem like a small thing to some. The democratic betrayal by the Council by gagging the community voice is not a small thing. It strikes at the heart of our democratic values.   What needs to happen next? 1.The motion moved  by Mark Ridgeway should be recinded. 2.The Council should shedule a comprehensive presentation by the Kyneton and District Co-Op on behalf of the petitioners. 3.Councillors should then vote on the previously recinded motion. How will this happen? Please contact your local councillors by phone or email and request the above three points be put into action to properly restore our committment as a shire to genuine democratic process. . Here is the text of the email the Co-Op sent to Councillors last Monday  Dear Annette and Councillors, As a result of intense local pressure , the Kyneton and District Town Square Co-Op has recently, through a community petition, asked the Council to revisit option two from the Showgrounds Masterplan. We were unaware that the petition report would be tabled at this Wednesday’s meeting so we have been caught rather flat footed and apologise that this has landed in your inbox so close to tomorrow’s meeting.The report (AO.6) on the meeting agenda is inaccurate to say the least. The fifteen hundred signatories to the petition would like our side of the matter to be properly considered. The recent flawed VCAT decision has prevented the case to save the trees from being heard by the Tribunal. The only avenue now (apart from the Victorian Supreme Court) lies with you our elected representatives.We have all been caught napping in relation to this very bad decision. With the benefit of hindsight it seems astounding that the Council delegated the decision to grant a permit to cut the trees down. The alarm bells should have started ringing at this stage of the process. Item 2. in the report notes that an independent arborist report has shown that the ten trees are either nearing end of life or in a declining state due to their age, thereby posing a risk to community safety. This is an unbelievable assertion. The community has commissioned a independent arborists report (attached) which completely contradicts this assessment Item 3. acknowledges the extensive community and user group consultation process that Council undertook on the Kyneton Showgrounds Masterplan. The so called extensive consultation process resulted in only twelve residents turning up to the open forum. Balance that against 1500 signatories. Our contention is that most residents (and probably Councillors as well!) were completely unaware that the expansion of the netball courts required this unnecessary destruction.The points we have made above are only a small part of a plethora of inadequacies and false substantiation around the tree removal decision. The Co-Op would like the opportunity to comprehensively present our case to council. Please note that Option two could result in the availability of three netball courts instead of two (see attached concept drawing).  It should be noted that when this came to our notice in late November last year we asked to have a respectful round table discussion to try to resolve the issue rather than waste community and council resources going to VCAT.  This was flatly refused. Please allow the Save our Trees group to put the community’s side to this issue to our Councillors. Best regards, Rob Bakes Here is th Mayors response with no mention of our request for a presentation. Hi Rob, Thank you for your email to Councillors regarding this petition and concerns with the report in the agenda papers ahead of this Wednesday’s Scheduled Council Meeting. Councillors will review your correspondence and discuss in further detail. We appreciate you sending through this information.  We were told by a local councillor last Monday that the petition would be tabled but there would not be a vote. Surprise! Surprise! they voted unamiously to cut the ten elms down. Between Monday and Wednesday evening the Council officers obviously persuaded our Councillors to silence the petitioners’ case. So all this begs the question… why is our local government so hell bent on preventing the communitys’ case from being heard? One wonders if the arguments for Option One are strong enough to survive an open discussion.  Here is an artist’s impression of a revamped Option 2. 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

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?