Save Roadside Trees

From Nicola Provan. The duplication of the Princes Highway in the section between Winchelsea and Colac  (38 km) involves the destruction of many kilometres of old roadside plantings, unless the public – no doubt up to now poorly informed, apart from a few dedicated individuals – stages ongoing protest!

Works are due to start as soon as approval under the Commonwealth’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (1999) is granted. The focus of concern under the referral is loss of habitat for 2 endangered species: growling grass frog and hairy burrowing crayfish, which VicRoads manages to gloss over in the hope that the  the questionable “offsets” scheme will result in a quick approval. The vegetation remains a valuable asset for its amenity value, for higher productivity on surrounding farms and for sheltering and providing breeding sites for the many  birds and animals now living there. Is there no end to VicRoads’ disregard for the environment we live in?

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From John Bowman, Ocean Grove resident.

VicRoads owns the the roadside reserve and has drawings to eventually duplicate Grubb Road or build a bike track. In themselves these may not be bad things, but they shouldn’t be at the expense of the vegetation. Residents feel they are always on the back foot trying to protect the vegetation, including from other utilities. It is to be hoped that these photos taken from Grubb Rd will serve to protect the vegetation, and will not become “before” photos.

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