Council under fire- Mount Evelyn’s Ted Baarda fears bushland opposite his Gardner Parade home could again prove to be a fire risk. 76816 Picture: Russell Bennett

By Russell Bennett
MOUNT Evelyn residents have hit back at local ward councillor Tim Heenan on the eve of the third anniversary of Black Saturday, after he last week fumed over the community’s bushfire awareness complacency.
Gardner Parade resident Ted Baarda remembered convicted arsonist Damian Lisle’s attempted attack on his street in early 2010.
And he fears it will be the target of future firebugs if weeds and the level of undergrowth on the roadside reserve are not kept under control.
“You read in the paper about (residents) being accused of being bushfire apathetic because we don’t turn up to Tim Heenan’s CFA briefing, and already we’re close to being burnt down,” Mr Baarda said.
“An arsonist came in here.
“If (authorities) didn’t happen to be on to him – there were helicopters, the fire brigade, the police and the detectives… we’re just lucky they caught this guy.
“If they hadn’t been on to him – it was 2.30 in the afternoon – there would have been a huge blaze.”
Mr Baarda said the bushland behind the Mount Evelyn skate park and between Gardner Parade and the Lilydale-Warburton Rail Trail had become overgrown after years of council neglect.
He said too much focus was given to building the skate park and not enough to the nearby reserve.
But he also said previous council attempts to cut vegetation back were too aggressive.
Cr Heenan acknowledged that more work needed to be done to control the level of bushland growth along Gardner Parade, but was staunch in his support of previous council efforts to cut it back.
“Before I became a councillor, the area behind the skate park had been overhanging the road for more than 20 years,” he said.
“The shires of Lillydale and Yarra Ranges never took any notice.
“But when I joined council, we slashed it and I got the council to destroy the blackberries and weeds.
“I absolutely stand by the attention paid there.”
Cr Heenan said shire workers had removed garbage from the area and had undertaken re-planting works to allow water to hold in the basin off Gardner Parade.
“I will instruct our officers to cut it back again, but we have never destroyed native vegetation, none of that happened at all.”
Cr Heenan said: “I’ve got no doubt in my mind that there are places across the shire that need a mow, that need cutting back.
“But places like the Olinda Creek need more attention. Most councillors have received these sorts of calls from their local residents, but it doesn’t mean that the council hasn’t paid attention to the issue.”
Cr Heenan acknowledged that more weed and plant control needed to be done around Mount Evelyn, including along Wray Crescent in the planter boxes on the shopping strip.
“I will speak to council officers about it,” he promised. “We made a commitment to do more than we’re doing now.”