+34
A Lone Pine tree and strawberry plants are among vegetation abruptly cleared from a central Victorian school as part of a state government tree removal program.
Two students watch as arborists remove a tree at Elphinstone Primary School. Parents at two central Victorian primary schools are outraged by the removal of multiple trees before summer.
What's next? The government has granted $8 million for 330 schools to clear vegetation as part of their bushfire preparation. Parents at two central Victorian schools have expressed outrage after trees in school grounds were cut down by state government contractors this week with little or no notice. On Wednesday afternoon, arborists abandoned their work at Elphinstone Primary School, east of Castlemaine, to clear trees and vegetation ahead of the bushfire season amid protests from parents and media attention.
Parents at one school have threatened to climb the remaining trees to save them from being chopped down. The Victorian Schools Building Authority said it had halted works until it "talks to" the Elphinstone community. Helen Officer, one of the parents on site, said the school was not given notice to move or transplant trees away from the school building. ("They tried to pull out the kids' cabbages and strawberries from the kitchen garden," she said.
Ms Officer said three trees and some young saplings had been removed and a further 4-5 trees were earmarked for removal, leaving little shade for students.
"We take bushfire safety extremely seriously, but we just want some more time to provide the children shade and natural spaces for the rest of the year," she said. "This is a tiny bush school with 24 kids. If they're going to rush through and remove all these assets, why aren't they also rushing to provide new assets to the school?
" Forty-five minutes west of Elphinstone, Carisbrook Primary School also had trees within 10 metres of the school's buildings removed. School council president Sheree Lendon said the school community and staff were not aware the trees were going to be removed.
"There are families that have been attending this school for several decades, and now they feel that the character of the school and the feel of the school has just been destroyed in two days. Among the trees removed was a Lone Pine seeded from Gallipoli and planted in 2015 to mark the centenary of the Anzac landings in World War I.'Will not risk' safety In July, then education minister Ben Carroll announced $8 million shared across 330 schools to clear vegetation around school buildings.
The schools are on a Victorian government Bushfire At-Risk Register of 850 schools and early childhood services "considered to be at significant bushfire risk". High-risk schools are required to have a place of last resort for students and staff if evacuation is not possible during a bushfire. A compliant Shelter in Place requires a 10-metre perimeter around the building "clear of combustible materials such as trees and vegetation".
"We will not risk the safety of students in our care, which is why bushfire safety is so important," an education department spokesperson said.the authority would reflect on its practices and that there was consultation with Elphinstone Primary School. "We do acknowledge that it did occur very quickly, but that is because there is a sense of urgency around these works," Ms Wadell said.
"If these trees aren't removed, what it means is that these schools would need to close on high-risk and extreme bushfire days. "With these trees removed, these schools can continue to operate because they have a safe building in which to harbour if there is a bushfire. " Ms Wadell claimed the arborist did a walk-through of the school as part of an audit and that the principal was consulted with.
The ABC can confirm the school's principal, Brendan Stewart, did not know about the works until Thursday last week, a day before the Grand Final long weekend. Ms Wadell said that there was no nuance to save some of the trees within 10 metres of the school's buildings, but that it would work with the school community and the arborist about whether the remaining trees marked for removal could be saved.
The ABC understands Langley Primary School, 13km north of Kyneton, was also scheduled for vegetation clearing on Wednesday but arborists did not arrive. John Lewis says the decision to remove the trees and claim bushfire safety is "silly and dead stupid". Elphinstone CFA volunteer John Lewis said removing the trees did not make sense because children were never placed at fire risk.
"As soon as a bushfire is in the region, all the kids are shipped out, and they always have been," he said. "They're not going to catch fire, so come summer where are the kids going to get shade,"SuppliedUniversity of Melbourne senior research associate Dr Greg Moore said the department had "grossly overestimated the risk" the trees pose in a bushfire.
"Very often they look at these situations and remove all the trees because it's such a simple thing to specify," he said. As well as providing shade, he said trees cool the air, provide humidity in a dry summer and help with student development. Email address
Trees School Removed Bushfire Government Vegetation
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Victorian man found not guilty after fatal crash at 2023 burnout eventA 29-year-old Ballarat man has been found not guilty in relation to a fatal crash at a burnout event in Stawell in 2023.
Read more »
Teenagers charged over bag snatches after allegedly targeting lone womenThree males have been charged after youths allegedly carried out robberies in Melbourne's south-east targeting mostly lone women.
Read more »
Electric Vehicle Council wants NSW Road User Charge scrapped after ‘absurd’ Victorian taxA national road-user charge shouldn’t disadvantage electric vehicle drivers, says the EVC, adding that state-based schemes should be abandoned.
Read more »
Victorian doctors and allied health professionals strike over pay and working conditionsDoctors across Victoria walked off the job for four hours and allied health professionals for 24 hours, as year-long pay negotiations with the state government remain deadlocked.
Read more »