Can’t see the policy for the trees

When is a tree significant and when is it a weed?

That was the question posed at the May council meeting, when councillors debated a planning application to remove four trees at Teddy Bear Lane in Cowes.

In the report on the Teddy Bear Lane application, council officers recommended two Southern Mahogany trees be retained for “possessing high environmental significance” and retaining the trees should be a condition of any permit issued.

The report stated removal of the trees was not well supported under the Vegetation Protection Overlay and retaining the two trees was “in line with the state and local strategies for native vegetation management”.

However at the April meeting, when a last-minute motion was presented by Cr Ronnie Bauer, in an attempt to save three Southern Mahogany trees, due to be removed to make way for a car park at the Anderson Road boat ramp, council officers identified the same species as an “environmental weed”.

Cr Bauer was bemused. “As I read this planning application, I shook my head. Clearly what is good for the goose is not good for the gander.

“We are exercising botanical apartheid,” Cr Bauer said. “This application is subject to a planning application and the arborist report by Urban Forestry Victoria Pty Ltd is recommending the retention of the Southern Mahogany gum trees … rating them as of high significance. I have no problem with that.

“Yet the three majestic Southern Mahogany trees in the Anderson Road car park are condemned because of a technical distinction. In these times of Climate Emergency, we need every significant tree we have got. Common sense should be exercised. Our vegetation policy requires consistency.”

Island Voice’s Andrew Marston also noted the inconsistency.

“Either Southern Mahogany trees are a problem that should be removed, or they form part of the local habitat and should be retained,” he told the Advertiser.

“Do the Vegetation Protection Overlay and Planning Policy support their retention or not? Above everything else, Bass Coast Shire Council should demonstrate consistency in its decision making. The community deserves that.”

Different overlays

Council CEO Ali Wastie said the two areas had different overlays.

“The Native Vegetation provisions of the Bass Coast Planning Scheme were considered for the Anderson Road Boat Ramp project,” Ms Wastie explained.

“Native vegetation for purposes of that provision of the Planning Scheme only relate to plants that are indigenous to Victoria (including trees, shrubs, herbs, and grasses). The Southern Mahogany species was identified as not being indigenous and in turn, not requiring any separate approvals from planning.

“Consideration was also given to the Southern Mahogany retention under the avoid-and-minimise design strategy. Retention of these trees would have been at the cost of removing the native coastal foreshore which has now been avoided.”

Ms Wastie said the block at Teddy Bear Lane had a Vegetation Protection Overlay on the land.

“This requires all trees that are above two metres in height or truck girth greater than 30cm – regardless of if they are indigenous or not – to have a planning permit for their removal.”

Approved

Despite questioning the perceived anomaly in the decision, Cr Bauer voted with his fellow councillors to approve the planning permit, which allowed for the removal of two trees and lopping of one other.

While the permit stated two Southern Mahogany trees must stay, a Cedar Wattle and Southern Mahogany tree can be removed, based on the aborist’s report that the trees were showing symptoms of decline, with sections of one tree already dead.