A WOLLERT farmer whose pioneer family settled in the area in the 1800s is upset at the removal of 23 river red gums on a road reserve outside his property.
The gums were not ancient, but Paul Schultz said his father had planted about half the 89 trees outside the Lehmanns Road property 40 years ago and he had planted the rest 15 years ago.
He claimed the oldest trees were among those removed to widen the road that leads to Stockland’s Eucalypt Estate at the intersection of Lehmanns Road and Saltlake Boulevard.
“Councillors were told they were 15 years old and they weren’t. My father planted them,” he said.
Mr Schultz said he was not consulted over the removal. “The trees may have been on a road reserve, but they were two feet from my boundary and were really nice to look at,” he said.
He said the developer could have used its land instead of the road reserve for the work, and he feared future works might see the removal of the remaining gums.
Whittlesea’s council manager of growth area development assessment, Roger Sucic, said the land was a “designated road reserve and therefore is earmarked for further road development”.
“The assessment of the age of the trees was based on advice from a professional arborist. As a condition of the removal, Stockland is required to replace each tree with five new trees, which means 115 trees that are native to the area will be planted on an agreed parcel of road reserve,” he said.
Mr Sucic said the public notice of the tree removal was not required because it was on land with a public acquisition overlay.
Stockland regional manager Mike Davis said the developer had not chosen the location of the road widening.
“The location for the road reserve was chosen by VicRoads and the City of Whittlesea Council, as well as being included in the Council’s Local Structure Plan,” he said.
“The Eucalypt [Estate] community is located in a scenic, natural environment and Stockland has consciously preserved the natural beauty of the area by conserving more than 117 hectares in its natural state and providing approximately 42 hectares of open space for sport and recreational purposes – 8.32 hectares of which is conservation reserves.”
He said Stockland had no plans to remove any of the remaining trees in Lehmanns Road.
