Greenies disagree

By Tania Martin
SAVE the Dandenongs League president Betty Marsden has again questioned the actions of a friends group in clearing bushland in Mt Evelyn.
The Mail reported last week in its front page story, “Too clear for us”, that Ms Marsden said the clearing of the land had shown a disregard for the environment.
Ms Marsden and fellow environmentalist Ted Baarda said they were horrified by the clearing of the land in Gardener Parade at the Mt Evelyn end of the Lilydale to Warburton Trail.
The Friends of the Lilydale to Warburton Trail said they had been clearing the land of weeds and rubbish for the past 12 months.
Defending the land clearing, the friends group president, Pat O’Shaughnessy said the land was a degraded site, which the group has been working to improve.
He told The Mail that over the past couple of weeks the group has been working hard to remove rubbish.
Shire of Yarra Ranges Mayor, Tim Heenan also supported the work of the friends group saying it was a good thing for the environment.
“A significant amount of masonry, rubble, old car bodies and rusted metal, along with weeds such as blackberries was removed,” he said.
But Mr Baarda has disputed the claims that the area was a glorified rubbish tip.
“The garbage factor has been grossly over exaggerated – there were a few bits of wire and little bits of other rubbish,” he said.
Mr Baarda said the clearing of the land has removed all habitats for birds and other wild life.
His backyard has now become a haven for Kookaburras and butcherbirds and he says it costs him $200 a week for bird food.
Ms Marden has also questioned the removal of the sweet pittosporum because there are other more environmentally friendly ways to deal with the weed.
She said the Friends of Sherbrooke Forest have perfected a treatment for the weed where a whole is drilled into the base and poison injected into the plant.
“This way it can slowly die off while new vegetation grows and it gives the animals somewhere to live while the new plants are growing,” she said.
But the Shire of Yarra Ranges has again defended the actions of the friends group and has welcomed the clearing of the land.
Shire spokesman James Martin said the council had full confidence in the methods used by the friends group.
Mr Martin said the site was so heavily degraded with decades of accumulated rubbish as well as blackberries and other weeds that the group had no other choice than to clear out the site.
He said the drill and fill method Ms Marsden refers to is highly appropriate for most sites, however, this wasn’t one of them.