By EMMA SUN
A MENZIES Creek resident has accused Telstra of damaging two 100-year-old trees on his property.
Steve Holmes, who owns St Cuthbert’s Wedding Chapel on Belgrave-Gembrook Road, said contractors installing cables had cut the roots to two trees that were planted the day the church was consecrated by the Archbishop of Melbourne in 1907.
However, Telstra said its contractors had taken “all necessary precautions” to minimise damage.
Mr Holmes said he was furious to know the trees were potentially dying.
“Those trees have survived bushfires, survived floods, survived cars that have run off the road, survived vandals and the ravages of time for 107 years,” he said.
“In one morning, Telstra’s contractors have come in here and irreparably damaged my trees, which makes me feel very cross.
“This makes them potentially able to die and fall over. I’ve been advised these trees may now be unsafe because of what they’ve done and I’m trying to protect the local motorists and pedestrians.”
Mr Holmes said he had been advised by an arborist that Telstra had actually dug in a place they were not allowed to dig, as the trees were within a certain distance from the property line.
But Telstra spokesman James Howe said they had obtained a permit from Yarra Ranges Council to dig there and install 40m of pipe, as well as replace some phone cable that had been damaged on the site.
“Our contractors bored underneath the tree as opposed to directional drilling – we purposely chose not to use that method to avoid any damage to the tree,” he said.
“We don’t think there’s any damage to the tree as we took every precaution to ensure the integrity of the tree remained a priority throughout.
“We’re always mindful of any impact that we can have on the natural environment and I believe we took all the necessary precautions to minimise that.”
