Most VNPA members will be aware of the recent appalling loss of around 880 large old eucalypts as part of the duplication of the Western highway between Ballarat and Stawell. The trees were felled in the section between Beaufort and Ararat. Many of the trees had hollows used by birds and other animals.
VicRoads had approval only for the removal of the 221 trees they estimated would need to be cleared. But this did not include many more ‘scattered’ trees in the path of the road, which were felled for debatable safety reasons. Pressure from a local group, Western Highway Alternative Mindsets (WHAM), forced VicRoads to admit the mistake and revise plans for the next section to be widened, between Buangor and Ararat. The VNPA applauds WHAM members’ energy and persistence in the face of a powerful bureaucracy. The revised plans include using concrete and wire rope barriers to stop vehicles running off the road and hitting a tree, rather than removing the trees themselves, and so narrowing the area to be cleared. These design improvements are positive, but won’t do much to reduce the impact of the road through hilly land. The best option is to minimise road widening as far as possible, and focus on behavioural change to increase
safety. …. The power and speed of modern cars, and the increased traffic from a growing population, as well as a ‘safety at any cost’ policy, are related issues. Another major problem is that VicRoads was exempted (in an unfortunate move by the former Brumby government) from having to gain permits for removing native vegetation. Yet in many parts of Victoria, roadsides often have the best, or sometimes the only, native vegetation remaining. The VNPA believes that, like anyone else, public authorities such as VicRoads should have to obtain permits for clearing native vegetation, and that VicRoads must give the protection of existing native vegetation a much higher priority.
We are in grave danger of losing the ecological and habitat value of our roadsides, as well as their variety, character and beauty – not to mention their importance for carbon capture and storage.
[From Park Watch Magazine – VNPA]