Injunction bid to foil ‘chainsaw massacre’

Alex de Vos
Residents plan to take out injunctions to stop authorities chopping down non-indigenous trees along the Barwon River in Geelong.
Highton’s Trish Gant said council and Corangamite Catchment Management Authority began “destroying” up to 100 exotic trees along the river two weeks ago.
She has joined other concerned residents to seek support for court injunctions to stop both authorities removing the trees.
Ms Gant said the authorities planned to remove all non-indigenous growth along the river in Geelong within the next five to 10 years.
Ms Gant feared the “destruction” was damaging the environment.
She said the authorities were clearing the trees based on “incorrect information”.
“Ratepayers haven’t been notified or shown a plan of the removal and no information is on the websites,” Ms Gant said.
“We object to the wholesale re-moval of vegetation deemed exotic or non-indigenous, which includes elm trees, willows, peppercorns, desert ash and plum trees.”
Ms Gant said she “felt sick” after seeing “many tree stumps coated in poison”.
“Other walkers were also horrified by what they saw,” she said.
“The wallaby that rests in its favourite clump of exotic broom, soon to be destroyed, was nowhere to be seen.
“All I saw was brown, poisoned groundcover and grass spewing toward its habitat.”
Ms Gant said council wrongly believed all non-indigenous trees were environmental threats.
She urged other residents to get behind the fight to save the river’s non-indigenous trees.
“We want to try to stop it before they destroy everything.
“We will and are looking at the possibility of some sort of injunction against council and Corang-amite CMA.”
Council and the catchment authority failed to return the Independent’s calls before the paper went to press yesterday.