Nature comes to Sunbury Crescent
Sal Dugan
Eastsider News readers will have seen David Berry’s Putting Nature back into Nature Strips (May 2024 issue), an idea surely worthy of action; and action is what was taken by residents of Sunbury Crescent in Surrey Hills.
The crescent was a debacle for more than two years during the level crossing removal program’s activities. Since completion, this work has resulted in a much speedier and safer journey in and out of both Surrey Hills and Mont Albert.
But this efficiency in vehicular traffic management had a downside, the destruction of the trees and shrubs that lined the rail tracks. Sure, there have been some plantings in attempt to replace those destroyed but take a trip down Sunbury Crescent and you’ll see that residents have taken their own action.
Almost all households took up the gauntlet, working with Balwyn Rotary to convert grass verges into native shrub plantations. Rotary worked their rotary hoe to great effect, helped prepare the soil with mulch and natural fertilisers, and then the street got planting.
I had assumed residents had come together, discussed the idea and just set to. However, that wasn’t the case. First one household took the plunge, then a neighbour or two asked what on earth they were doing. When told, they rather liked the idea and went about arranging similar transformations of their own nature strips. And on it went until all but two of Sunbury Crescents’ nature strips were transformed.
Whether or not this activity was prompted by the chaotic destruction suffered by residents during the LXRP disruption is immaterial. Whatever the reason, it is fabulous that the street will soon provide pollens and sustenance for birds, bees, butterflies and other insects, as well as a much more interesting environment for all those who live, visit or take in the crescent on their daily walk.
Let’s hope the people of Sunbury Crescent keep up the necessary maintenance of the nature gardens so we have a fabulous display come spring.
Tree Protection Policies
In Victoria, trees are covered by general property law and ‘common law’, which is law the courts have developed over time.
The Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria[1] explains that, ‘This means that generally, a tree owner doesn’t have a legal obligation to maintain their tree unless it’s causing damage or nuisance’. The DSCV points out, however that trees can also be covered by council rules. Before acting, people should check with their local Council to see if the particular tree is protected.
What trees are protected?
Most municipalities around Australia have local laws to protect trees within their region that have been identified as either a significant tree or a canopy tree.
The City of Boroondara defines significant trees as ‘…outstanding trees that we have identified as ‘significant’ because of their impressive size, age, rarity, ecological value, or cultural and historical significance. They can be on private property or public land’.
Boroondara identifies canopy trees as being on private land and contributing to Boroondara’s biodiversity, shade and privacy.[2] In particular, a canopy tree is defined as having a trunk circumference of either 110 cm or more, measured at 1.4 m above ground level or 150 cm or more at ground level. If the tree has multiple stems, the circumference is the total of the stems measured at 1.4 m above ground level.
Boroondara’s Tree Protection Local Law
Boroondara’s Tree Protection Local commenced operation in 2006 and was revised in 2016. Since November 2023, the Council has been looking at updating this local law to address its failure to arrest the increasing loss of canopy trees on private land. This included one month of community consultation in which residents were given the opportunity to participate in a survey or to make a submission.
The updated version of the local law was approved at the Council meeting on 27 May 2024. The new version increased the level of fines and made minor changes to the definition of canopy trees. For more detail on the changes, go to https://engage.boroondara.vic.gov.au/draft-tree-local-law-2024
Concern still exists within the community as to whether this new law goes far enough to prevent further decline in canopy tree cover. Some point to the low level of awareness of the law, the level of resources made available to apply the law including the effectiveness with which it will be monitored; the availability of mechanisms that enable residents to participate in its operation and to report potential losses before they happen, and the need to educate residents of the contribution trees make to amenity, economy and sustainability. Some of these concerns are discussed in articles below.
[1] https://www.disputes.vic.gov.au/information-and-advice/trees-0
[2] https://www.boroondara.vic.gov.au/services/environment-and-sustainability/trees/protected-and-significant-trees
Protecting canopy trees is everybody’s job
Councillor and resident action needed to stop this destruction
Ian Hundley
On May 27, Boroondara Council adopted the Tree Protection Local Law 2024. This is the latest iteration of a local law initially adopted in November 2006 for the purpose of maintaining canopy tree cover on private properties in the municipality.
In its most recently revised form, the Local Law incrementally improves what had previously prevailed. New measures include increases in monetary penalties, the publication of successful prosecutions and readier public access to information on Council assessments made on individual applications for tree removal.
Most importantly, the latter two measures invite greater public understanding and participation in the administration and enforcement of the Local Law. Without such public knowledge and involvement, and especially the reporting to Council of trees under threat of unauthorised removal, we will continue to lose canopy trees to illegal removal at a significant rate.
Councillor and citizen participation is essential
The work of individual local elected ward councillors is an important measure to recruit such public participation.
With this in mind, I put the following question to the Boroondara Council meeting on Monday June 24: ‘Will Boroondara Councillors give a high priority to advertising and chairing public meetings in their respective wards for the purpose of introducing the recently revised Tree Protection Local Law 2024 to their constituents, to explain its provisions and to develop greater resident engagement in the implementation and enforcement of the Local Law?’
Mayor Hollingsworth responded on behalf of the Council that: ‘It is very difficult for me to give any assurance on what any individual councillor will do. But I am also mindful that we have Council elections at the end of October and at this stage we cannot forecast who will be elected or who will be serving in the role of councillor in the relevant ward.’
‘So, the only assurance I can give you is that Boroondara Council will respond to questions on the Local Law. There will be opportunities to review information on Boroondara’s website and potentially in other publications highlighting any changes to the Local Law,’ she said.
Sadly, this approach is too passive to be useful and ignores the role that Councillors can play in educating and enabling citizen participation. Individual Councillors really do need to be on the front foot to promote the objectives of the Local Law to maintain the treed character of the municipality and in the prohibition and regulation of activities which would endanger our canopy cover and, especially, to recruit greater citizen involvement in achieving these ends.
Taking the heat out of the threat to Boroondara’s trees: it’s up to Council
Ian Hundley
Our current situation
Private properties comprise most of Boroondara – about 75% of the total land area of 6,000 hectares. It is clear, therefore, that for adequate tree cover to be recovered the tree loss experienced on private properties in the last few decades must be reversed.
However, this loss is continuing apace – trees are being rapidly lost in favour of concrete in the municipality, which estate agents persist in misrepresenting as “leafy and green.”
Last year, Boroondara Council was prompted by adverse publicity surrounding illegal tree removals in Balwyn North, to revise its Tree Protection Local Law. Whilst larger monetary penalties for illegal tree removal and other offences had been available to the Council for inclusion in the Local Law since 2020, the Council had failed to act.
What needs to be done
Council has said it will incorporate these increased penalties into the Local Law. Whilst this is an obvious first step, increased penalties alone will not assist the recovery in canopy tree cover. There are essential initiatives which Council needs to employ for the Local Law to be effective, and which I included in my proposals for the revised Local Law. These include:
- A reduction in the size of any canopy tree which would require a Council permit for removal.
Currently, any tree with a trunk circumference less than 1.1 metres may be removed without a Council permit. However, most trees are smaller than this. Importantly, they also include the less mature trees which should be available to replace older trees. I proposed to Council that trees with a trunk circumference greater than 80 centimetres should in future require Council assessment.
- Protection of the tree’s root zone
I have lost count of the number of times I have observed the soil at the foot of trees being scarified or compacted by developers and others, in many cases, it seems, deliberately to destroy the tree. More robust measures to protect the root zone of canopy trees are required, including a redefinition of the area that requires protection during building and related works.
- The pruning of canopy trees needs to be regulated.
The fact that under current arrangements large limbs on canopy trees may be hacked at in the absence of arboreal assessment by Council has precipitated significant losses.
In addition to effective amendment of the Tree Protection Local Law itself, organisational reform is also required within Council.
Each councillor must take ownership of the program to promote the Tree Protection Local Law in their respective wards. Community understanding of the program and of its importance is at rock bottom. Councillors should conduct regular ward meetings to heighten community support and involvement for the recovery of canopy tree cover.
Much greater support is required to assist residents to be the “eyes and ears” for Council to assist in the recovery of canopy tree cover. This should include a legible data base on the Council website to show which trees Council has granted a permit for removal.
To deter illegal tree removal and other offences Council should commence publicising in public media individual cases of offences committed under the Local Law as found in the Magistrates Court.
Council’s assessment guidelines should be reviewed and greater priority placed upon environmental loss relative to aesthetics in determining applications for tree removal than is currently the case. The revised assessment guidelines should in future be published on the Council website.
The Council budget for the administration of the Local Law has also been inadequate for many years. In 2022-23 a mere $260,00 was assigned to the program. To place this in perspective, such funding would provide for about 2.5 full time equivalent staff positions remunerated at the Average Weekly Earning level. However, applications for tree removal alone may be in the order 1,000 per annum. This leaves essential educational, promotional and enforcement activity woefully under-resourced.
The way ahead
Costs associated with the destruction of trees on private properties should be visited on perpetrators and not, as is happening now, on the environment and the residents who live within it. The proposals I have outlined here to reverse the loss of canopy trees on private properties in Boroondara are comfortably doable, and essential to achieve that end.
Published in Eastsider News May 2024 edition
One of many trees lost from a Belmore Road, Balwyn North, property which I reported to Council in November 2023. Six breaches were identified and infringements issued under the Tree Protection Local Law. Multiple tree replacements were directed by Council in this case.
Destruction of Canopy Trees
In May 2024 edition of Eastsider News as in many previously, our contributors have written much about the unique role trees play for our personal health and the health of our environment, community and economy.
One contributor writes about the anguish she feels to see a neighbouring block completely denuded of all trees by the property developer. Others write of the deterioration of local livability, sustainability, and neighbourhood character with the loss of trees expected to accompany Victorian Government initiatives such as ‘Future Homes’ and the planning changes associated with the Suburban Rail Loop. Contributors have also written about the role of local government including the need to protect trees as natural assets, the maintenance and improvement of quality open space and our urban tree canopy to build climate and community resilience.
Our writers warn that the situation regarding trees and their preservation will potentially become much worse in the future. Approaches such as fast-tracked approvals under the ‘Future Homes’ initiative to push through 3-storey apartment developments will leave little in the way of open space and very limited space for canopy trees.
While it is essential we respond to the many challenges confronting our world and adapt to change, we must ensure the chosen solution adopts a longer term view and considers all factors not just the immediate and seemingly economically efficient solution.
As the WWF has pointed out, ‘More and more, we’re turning to new technologies to help us tackle the environmental crisis. But the irony is that the perfect tech already exists, and has done for millions of years, right under our noses – trees.’
It is essential that decision makers at the State and local government become aware of their constituents’ concerns, and the extent and nature of the problem. The voices of their constituents are an importance source of information on other ways to solve these problems.
A suggestion by Cynthia Pilli, concerned by the practice of moonscaping, is that you take a photograph of any such activity in your neighbourhood. Send the photograph to your Councillor requesting action to prevent unnecessary destruction of precious canopy trees in line with existing law. Thank you to David Berry who has prepared a list of contacts in the City of Manningham. This list is available on our website here: https://www.eastsidernews.org.au/protecting-canopy-trees/
A call to stop destructive tree removals in Manningham.
Cynthia Pili
The City of Manningham, like many Victorian local councils have policies and programs for the purpose of protecting trees on private land.
In Manningham, canopy trees are being unceremoniously pushed over and removed with virtual impunity. Council policies,regulations and practice are doing little to discourage the practice of ‘moonscaping‘, whereby canopy trees and other vegetation is removed, commonly in association with subdivision and new residential construction.
This destruction on our Council’s watch, on our watch, is sickening. We inherited the gift of a Manningham with substantial canopy tree cover. This is now fast disappearing. In a tug of war for time to slow climate change, to protect this earth. Council consent to substantial canopy tree removal, in many cases without replacement, is negligence beyond measure.
For instance, why is it, that in a Manningham Council town planning report of a property near my residence. Why is there no vegetation located on site (moonscaped) when two months ago, it contained several large trees at its boundary? Why is intentional destruction not met with a please explain from Council represenatIves? And how did the subdivision proposal for this very large property (I estimate about 1,500 square metres in area) meet Manningham’s Neighbourhood Character Objectives; Standard C6 that requires the protection of significant vegetation? It has been a failure on all these crucial points by Manningham Council.
In meeting our future housing needs, we need intelligent plannng and effective implementation of policies to protect us from the tyranny of those without any interest in the welfare of our natural environment and the living conditions that remain in Manningham for the generations that will follow.
Once a well treed residential block in Doncaster East, now largely devoid of vegetation following recent demolition.
First published in Eastsider News May 2024 edition
The Tragic Tale of Two Trees
Carmel McNaught and Franklin Rosenfeldt
Canopy trees are vital, now more than ever, for the physical, mental and economic health of our community. Melbourne’s tree canopy is decreasing, even in our leafy Eastern suburbs. In this article we present two cases that illustrate the inadequacy of existing processes, laws and penalties for demolition of significant trees in residential areas.
The first case is the removal of an old eucalypt without Council approval, illustrating the inadequacies of existing fines for such unauthorised activity. In the second case, the removal of a 175-year-old, heritage-listed native Bunya Pine, Council approval existed but the entire process was shrouded in secrecy, illustrating the need for greater transparency in approval for cutting trees.
An old eucalypt in Balwyn North
Case 1 involves a substantial eucalyptus tree in Balwyn North, with a base 1.2 metres in diameter. Boroondara Council had given permission for pruning but NOT demolition. Nevertheless, the tree was demolished during the Christmas break in late 2023, presumably in the hope that the fall of this giant would not be noticed! At the same time, several large gumtrees were cut down in the rear of the property, again without council approval.
Fines for unapproved tree removal are low. Boroondara Council’s maximum penalty is a few thousand dollars, a trivial item in the budget of a property developer. Several local residents have formed a group (Protect Our Boroondara Parks and Trees, POBPT) and liaised with Council about this unapproved tree demolition, and other similar instances in the past.
We are pleased that Council has decided to prosecute the owners and contractor involved in this case in the Magistrates Court. In addition, a process to update the Tree Protection Local Law is underway. These are positive indications of action but will take time and may not be stringent enough to deter property developers. We have also approached State Members of Parliament and received acknowledgement that this is an issue to be addressed. But the clock is ticking – climate change is increasing, and we cannot afford a leisurely debate and small incremental adjustments.
A heritage listed Bunya Pine in Kew
Case 2 centres on a 175-year-old, heritage-listed, healthy Bunya Pine tree that was a highly visible and impressive icon in Kew. Bunya Pines can live to 600 years of age and are important to indigenous Australian culture. They are also threatened in northern areas of Australia by dieback through phytophthora, a fungal-like mould in the soil. Demolishing a healthy specimen is especially obnoxious.
One aspect of this tragedy is that Boroondara Council gave approval for the demolition. However, there was no consultation with the local community, and no formal reason given for the demolition approval. When POBPT learned that the demolition was to proceed, a member appealed to the Council’s CEO to delay the demolition but to no avail. On the day of the demolition a group of 50 residents tried to intervene but were pushed back by police. The demolition proceeded and was reported on Channel Seven News that night. This episode’s secretive approval process is now to be reviewed by Council.
The message from this case is that it is time to have clear arboreal assessments of any request for cutting down a significant tree, with all documentation being made available for open community consultation. Only then can trust in local Council decisions be rebuilt. Our small band of POBPT members will continue investigating tree removals and campaigning for more appropriate processes and legal consequences for those who wish to remove significant trees in our community.
The authors are both retired professors who want to transfer the skills we learnt in our academic careers into campaigns that support the local community in which we live. We are POBPT members.
First published in May 2024 edition of Eastsider News
Putting the ‘Nature’ into Nature Strips
David Berry
Melbourne’s ‘liveability’ is under threat due to the recent ‘Future Homes’ state government legislation which fast-tracks higher density apartment development with dilution of local council planning controls.
Other factors threatening neighbourhood character include an accelerated loss of tree canopy in the suburbs, deficiencies in tree control regulation on private land and loss/occupation of open space due to major infrastructure projects including level crossing removals, North East Link and the Suburban Rail Loop.
Declining open space
These urban pressures will mean a decrease in viable and accessible open space per person in metropolitan Melbourne. Apart from our existing parks, what other open spaces could be planted out with trees and vegetation to produce habitat, plant diversity and biolinks (linkages between parks and open spaces) to help improve the natural character of our neighbourhoods?
The answer is the suburban nature strip and there are thousands of kilometres of nature strips in metropolitan Melbourne.
A nature strip is defined as an area of public land between a road and adjacent owned land but does not include the shoulder of the road or a bicycle path, footpath, or shared path. Nature strips are owned and regulated by local councils but maintained by adjacent landowners.
Most commonly, nature strips are planted out with grass that requires regular mowing. A single street tree may be the only ‘nod’ to biodiversity.
Planting your nature strip
Metropolitan councils manage the street tree programs and have guidelines and permit systems in place to facilitate nature strip plantings. Go to your local government website to find the permit application guidelines for your council.
There are many things a local government authority could do to encourage such plantings. These include creating a network of urban biolinks; establishing an education program coupled with revised planting permit requirements to make it easier for residents to opt into planting their nature strip; and initiating a ‘Nature Strips for Wildlife’ program.
Inducements for residents to plant out their nature strips could include free assessments, advice, and provision of plant vouchers; and annual nature strip sustainability awards for the ‘best established’ and ‘best newly planted’ nature strips. Councils could offer one-off rate reductions for residents who apply to have a street tree planted on their nature strip where no tree currently exists. They could also offer ongoing rate reductions for nature strips that have been planted out rate reductions for nature strips containing two or more suitable street trees.
Benefits of nature strip planting
Planting out Melbourne’s nature strips will promote a healthy urban ecology and deliver so many benefits including providing habitat, shade, decreasing ambient temperatures, producing oxygen, removing CO2, saving water, storing carbon, producing less run-off after heavy rain, reducing the ‘heat island’ effect and improving neighbourhood character.
And research clearly demonstrates that greening our streetscapes improves the physical, mental, and economic well-being of residents and passers-by. An added bonus is the traffic-calming effect it has on motorists.
David Berry is member of the Blackburn and District Tree Preservation Society Inc Committee. To find out more about the Society and their work, please click here: https://bdtps.wordpress.com/
First published in May 2024 edition of Eastsider News
Reform of tree regulations is urgent as climate change takes hold
Ian Hundley
There are serious failings in regulation and administration both at state and local government levels which, together, are compromising the recovery
of canopy tree cover in greater Melbourne, and especially in the City of Boroondara.
To read the full article, please click here.
First published in Eastsider News October 2022 edition