Cypress avenue under threat in the 90’s

Replace with eucalypts suggested at one stage

How plain Cowes would look today without the soft green foliage of our beautiful avenue of Golden Cypress.

The historic avenue of trees is highly valued by the local community, recognised as an Avenue of Significance by the National Trust and the atmosphere they create.

Today, the Friends of Golden Cypress group and the Bass Coast Shire outdoor staff take special care of this Phillip Island icon.

But this was not always the case.

In the late 80’s and early 90’s, as the commercial area expanded, a number of trees were gradually removed from Thompson Avenue.

And a suggestion to replace the cypress with eucalypts was also made.

That was the catalyst for action.

Upset community members sprang into action in 1993 when councillors of the day accepted a recommendation from the shire’s main street development committee to replace the golden cypress avenue with native species.

A protest meeting was called and a motion supporting the retention of the trees, and the reestablishment of cypress along the length of Thompson Avenue, was unanimously carried.

A group “The Friends of the Cypress” was then formed to assist council with protection of the trees and carries out this task still today.

The suggestion to form the group was made at the meeting by island student Pamela Luke.

Residents at the meeting, many of them third, fourth and fifth generation island families, had strong feelings about the avenue of cypress, which for them represented island history and their heritage.

In response to criticism from the council’s main street development committee of the day, they expressed the view that a non elected shire committee should not be allowed to take precedence over the views of a majority of residents.

Older members of the community, who remembered planting and then watering the trees throughout the ensuing summers as school children, were particularly concerned at the move to see the historic trees replaced.

The views of the newly formed Friends of the Cypress group held sway.

September 2 1994 was described as a momentous day; when restoration work began on Thompson Avenue’s row of cypress with ceremonious plantings of replacement trees beginning, with a view to restoring the mile long stretch to its former glory.

Seven golden cypress trees were planted that day, replacing an equal number that had fallen victim to time.The replacements had been propagated by shire outdoor staff at the council depot in Cowes.

It was announced that the propagation and cultivation of cypress trees would thenceforth be an ongoing process, so that as the remaining trees in the avenue reached full life expectancy, mature replacements would be available.

There was a great sense of occasion on that day, as four surviving residents who had planted some of the trees in the 1920s as school children, and who had watched them grow over the previous sixty years, repeated their assignment of long ago.

They were Min Laurence, Edna Thompson, Isa Niven and Peter Forrest.

Each was accompanied by a descendant, in most cases a grandchild or great grandchild, also in attendance at local primary schools.

All had a long association with Phillip Island since their school days.

Min Laurence opened Marldon House in 1943.

Edna Thompson, a trained nurse, co-ordinated the Red Cross activities on the island during World War 2, after which she with her husband Vern operated Carisbrooke and later Broadwater guesthouses.

Isa Niven, with her husband Rupe, owned Yackatoon Guesthouse; and Peter Forrest whose family celebrate 150 years on the island this year, farmed locally all of his life

Reminiscences

Sitting in the shade of the trees that they had planted in the 1920’s, the old timers, now all gone, reminisced about those early days on that special day in 1994.

They each remembered planting their cypress, and each school pupil then being given a section of the avenue to care for, and water throughout the tree’s early summers.

Edna Thompson recalls being driven, with her brother John, and half kerosene tins of water, to nurture the trees in the holiday season.

Peter Forrest and Isa Niven were in the same grade at school. So were Edna and Min Laurence.

They all were delighted to know that after the trees had reached a final stage, that new ones propagated from them, would be ready for planting at a future date.

Their view was that the cypress trees gave a special atmosphere to the township of Cowes, and created shade, which was needed especially in a seaside resort.

They did not support eucalypts, which had been mooted by the main street development committee as a replacement, stating they were not safe to sit under, and were a constant source of falling leaves, which would have to be swept up daily.