UPDATE: Emerald’s Worrel Reserve trees are starting to be removed today.
Mail editor Melissa Meehan was in Emerald this morning while the first lot of trees were being felled and woodchipped.
More to come…
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
By DANIELLE GALVIN
A GROUP of Emerald residents is at loggerheads with Cardinia Shire Council over the removal of 50 cypress trees at Worrell Reserve.
The “battle of wills” escalated on Monday morning as the outspoken residents called on the council to stop work at the reserve while they wait for an injunction from the Heritage Council.
Police were at the reserve to ensure the protest didn’t get out of hand.
Lee Fuller and Mary Farrow were at the site on Monday as contractors moved in to start felling the trees.
Ms Fuller said the group had been in contact with the National Trust to have the trees nominated for the significant tree committee which meets in December.
She said they had been “fobbed off by council” who were determined to go ahead with the destruction of the trees.
But mayor Brett Owen said the council had an obligation to protect the community, and the removal of the trees was a critical step in the process to prepare the reserve as a Neighbourhood Safer Place-Place of Last Resort.
“Nobody likes to see trees removed, but if we want an NSP-PLR in Emerald, we have no other option,” he said.
Cr Owen said residents had sent a strong message to the council that they supported a place of last resort at Worrell Reserve.
To meet CFA criteria, the ageing cypress trees that form a window along the north-western boundary of the reserve need to be removed.
He said they were not only becoming increasingly unstable due to age – they posed a severe radiant heat threat.
“Council has explored several other potential sites and no others met the criteria,” he said.
“Worrell Reserve is close to the town centre, is easy to get in and out of and is a defendable space. It is the only place for an NSP in Emerald – as long as those trees are removed.”
