Tree plan’s green light

By Tania Martin
THE Shire of Yarra Ranges has ignored calls to defer its tree management plan, despite residents’ concerns over the lack of attention to bushfires.
Residents slammed the plan at a meeting last Tuesday, 13 October, for not mentioning the danger of fires in the region.
But councillors said the plan was not meant to consider bushfire risk but was aimed at providing advive to staff in tree management.
Olinda’s Simon Begg called for the plan to be deferred.
He said the council had not given residents enough notice to look at the plan in detail before voting on it.
“We feel the council should adjourn this plan until we have had the time in detail to make a submission … you shouldn’t rush it through,” Mr Begg said.
But mayor Len Cox said the plan was prepared long before the Black Saturday fires and was not available for public comment.
He said it was a document to guide staff to look after trees in the shire.
Billanook Ward councillor Tim Heenan said the plan was not a reaction to what happened on 7 February.
He said it had been a four-year project.
“There has been hundreds and hundreds of hours behind this,” Cr Heenan said.
Colin Wood of the One Tree Hill Resident Group said it was concerning that hundreds of hours had been spent on the plan but still it failed to look at bushfire risks.
“As we all know the Dandenong Ranges are recognised as one of the highest bushfire risks in Australia and the world and it’s concerning there is no mention in this policy document which deals with what amounts to bushfire fuel,” he said.
“The plan is about having as much native flammable vegetation as possible, removal forbidden and as trees grow there is a net increase in bush fire fuel year after year.”
Mr Wood said the policy looked at tree retention, maintenance and revegetation.
He said it was concerning that the policy outlined all available alternatives to retain trees and avoid unnecessary removals.
“This plan is totally inappropriate for the shire to adopt and I seek support of the councillors in not adopting until it’s rewritten to include bushfires and protection.”
But Lyster Ward’s Cr Samantha Dunn said there were plenty of other council policies that were focused on bushfires.
She said this was not about fires, but managing the shire trees.
“This is an operational plan … in this instance it’s about how we relate to issues surrounding trees in relation to ecological sustainability and risk management,” she said.
“We have extensive planning around bushfire and you don’t need to be concerned that bushfire is not in this plan, it’s mentioned in many plans and is not appropriate for the tree management plan.”
Shire director of environment and engineering Simon Thomas said the plan was aimed at reducing risks associated with the council’s trees.
The council unanimously adopted the tree management plan.