Helen Lewers, Gavin Jamieson and Kate Vivian next to a tree which has been turned into mulch during construction. Photo:Simon O’Dwyer
Road safety is our utmost priority and roadside trees can be a hazard in run off road accidents.
VicRoads chief executive John Merritt
The Western Highway is being duplicated from Ballarat to Stawell, at a cost of $662.3 million.
It said detailed road design would likely reduce the actual number of large old trees lost to “less than” 221.
VicRoads concedes it badly misjudged the amount of native flora it would have to remove between Beaufort and Ararat. Photo: WHAM
Hundreds of large old trees are being cleared to duplicate the Western Highway. Image: Western Highway Alternative Mindsets
VicRoads admitted its blunder following sustained pressure from local activist group WHAM (Western Highway Alternative Mindsets).
“When the 400-year-old Separation Tree was lost it made all of Melbourne very sad, so how come it doesn’t matter if nearly 1000 like it are cut down?,” Ms Lewers said.
A smartphone lodged in the trunk of one of the felled trees provides an idea of scale. Image: WHAM
VicRoads chief executive John Merritt acknowledged the “discrepancy between the original estimate, which did not include scattered trees” and the true figure.
A more detailed planning report, from 2014, identified 1635 large old trees that would be affected, and VicRoads had saved about 500 of those, Mr Merritt said.
The error prompted an intervention from Luke Donnellan, the Minister for Roads, who wrote to Ms Lewers to inform her that VicRoads was revising its design for the next highway section to be widened, between Buangor and Ararat.
A section of the highway that has since been cleared. Image: WHAM
“When it comes to tree clearing, public authorities are some of the worst offenders, especially with the exemptions given to them back in the time of the Brumby government,” he said.
