Council has announced another community consultation for a landscape plan at Koornang Park. The accompanying blurb states: “The plan sees the removal of the predominant row of over-mature Cupressus macrocarpa trees (Monterey Cypress) which are at high-risk of tree limb failure.” The blurb then goes on to say: “The development of the landscape plan has been guided by principles which prioritise safety, increase useable open space and promote environmental sustainability.”
Council has also provided a link to their ‘Have Your Say’ on their webpage. We acknowledge the fact that this time there is at least some form of ‘consultation’ (unlike the Duncan McKinnon episode) and the questions are open-ended. However, we are entirely sceptical as to the claim that ALL OF THESE TREES represent a physical danger, or if in fact, any of them do.
We ventured down to Koornang Park today and spoke with numerous residents who had no idea of what was going on. They also expressed alarm at the prospect of losing so many of these cypress trees. Please note that the ‘landscape concept’ does not indicate anywhere how many of these trees are to be removed.
What many of these residents did say was:
- The trees provide a terrific sound barrier to block out the traffic noise from busy Koornang Rd
- The trees also provide a natural barrier from the playground to the street so that young children cannot run onto the road – the playground is not fenced.
Apart from the fact of losing valuable and we maintain healthy trees, the safety issues in the above points would appear to go against council’s claim of ‘prioritising safety’. Rather, we are at a loss to understand why cypress trees have suddenly become public enemy number one for this council!
Glen Eira Debates 
July 31, 2013 at 5:38 PM
I hate the idea of a whole lot of trees being cut down without any attempt first off to see which ones can be saved. We are losing far too many in this council and sure they are planting new ones but it will take up to 20 years for anyone to see the benefit. Better management and care is needed like pruning every couple of years. I don’t see this happening and getting the chain saw out all the time isn’t an answer.
July 31, 2013 at 7:27 PM
Judging by the plan there is only going to be 8 trees retained and 10 new trees planted. Hardly a good exchange for all that will be lost.
July 31, 2013 at 8:16 PM
Well said Peter Jenkins ! I walk past the trees in question regularly and they have not been pruned in years and they are still quite young trees . They create a wonderful backdrop and noise buffer around the playground and fhere would have to be fencing around the playground if trees were removed Also The rose bushes in the garden on the other side of the trees are rarely tended. What is the council thinking !
July 31, 2013 at 8:37 PM
More consultants at more costs more plans and why this park. Wasn’t talked about before was it? Who in the hell makes decisions here – councillors or Newton?
July 31, 2013 at 8:39 PM
Please note that we were unable to find a single mention of this ‘development/consultation’ in any council minutes or in any record of assembly for this year.
July 31, 2013 at 9:09 PM
Now I could argue that the trees provide shade, noise screening, a wonderful green leafy environment and that the cypress trees also provide a heritage factor in an area that unfortunately is tagged with the dreaded housing diversity label.
I could also argue that to remove all the trees in one fell swoop rather than staging the removal and replanting process makes a lot more sense.
But then again what’s the point – this Council has a chainsaw and concrete mentality than regards open space as a resource crying out for a pavillion and car park..
July 31, 2013 at 10:32 PM
I think this is part of Council’s capital investment, which is “excellent and highlights the focus that Council has on renewing/upgrading existing assets as compared to building new assets.” (from p5 Glen Eira News July 2013) Must have had some spare cash to spend quickly. Wonder how much will it cost and was the process approved by the Council? Or may be they got some money from the State Government to coincide with next year’s election? That would make sense, since the Lyons Reserve got a make-over with the Federal Government assistance during GFC. The sign is still there.
July 31, 2013 at 11:04 PM
Removing countless and possibly healthy trees, employing contractors to design a landscape plan, purchasing new flora and then the actual work involved would amount to a fair bit. This becomes a “new asset” simply on cost involved. When a council is forced to continually raise rates well above CPI, and struggles to pay off a huge debt and is unable to borrow other money from cheaper lenders for the superannuation payback, then alarm bells should start ringing loudly and clearly. Glen Eira does not have “spare cash”. We’re been told this repeatedly.
Given all this, what’s this landscaping about and what does it say about the decision making of officers or councillors? About grants, these amount to a pittance compared to what council has to contribute. Marlborough I think got about $230,000 and council’s share was close to $750,000. That doesn’t sound like good economics when you are struggling to pay off debt. Nor does it say much about financial management in my books.It says plenty though about the priorities of those in charge and how warped these priorities are.
August 1, 2013 at 8:09 AM
SCR – I agree that there is a need to maintain existing assets, however, I disagree that renewing/upgrading should be the focus rather than the building/ acquisition of new assets because of two key issues which residents have long been raising
1) Just what constitutes renewal/upgrading – it’s one thing to renovate a sporting pavilion and replant sporting grounds and another to knock a down a pavilion and build a much larger pavilion and expand the car park and relocate sporting grounds. The end result in terms of actual playing field and facility usage is minimal and is dwarfed by the cost in terms of ratepayers dollars and lost (forever) open space. Yet this is what Council does continually under the guise of renewal/upgrading. While the above blog focuses on the imminent loss of trees, be aware that the Koornang Park plans also include a pavilion “upgrade”
2) Glen Eira has the least public open space (almost half the average) in Metro Melbourne (well documented and well publicized) and Council admits that, for many years, demand for open space and sporting facilities far exceeds supply. Council also admits that although it’s sporting ground replanting programme has enabled a increase in organized sporting fixtures, that increase is marginal and was never going to meet anticipated demand.
So here we have a growing population, a growing demand on already limited open space and a focus on “upgrades” that continually diminish available open space. After years and years of continuing down a path which is not addressing the issue, wouldn’t you think Council would actually realize that the focus should shift to maintenance of existing assets and the acquisition of new assets, particularly in those areas where their own decisions (and forecasts) have resulted in diminished private open space and a high demand for public open space.
July 31, 2013 at 11:44 PM
This is quite simply the old story of our council dreaming up a way to smash down vegetation and put buildings or building materials like concrete paths and edgings everywhere everywhere…. to produce an unnatural look all from the open space fund for desired open space loss…(lots of multi developments in Carnegie) Wouldn’t a new block of land be better… it would not cost much more especially for the new Carnegie and Dudley Street dwellers who have ,little or no open space or only reflected light into their units????
August 1, 2013 at 9:39 AM
Security is another reason given for chopping down the trees. Sightlines and all that. If this is the case, then there wouldn’t be a single park that had a tree in it anywhere. Drive along Hawthorn road and you can’t see what’s up around the other side of the lake. Wheatley road won’t let you see into Allnut park and for sure you can’t see anything from East Boundary. All this security stuff is insanity or plain bull. No statistics are given like how many attacks, perverts come to Koornang park and are they there during the day or night when they wouldn’t be seen anyway.
August 1, 2013 at 10:07 AM
Security is an old crock Council trots out every now and again in an attempt to justify the unjustifiable (ie. what they intend to do and what they will do despite what the community says).
Take a gander at the above pictures – this did not happen overnight, it’s taken years. If security is such a big issue why weren’t the trees maintained/pruned.