elms – The 3068 Group

And their Historic Avenue, and their surrounding parkland.

The story so far:

We are not going to let these trees be killed and this Avenue from Brunswick St to Alfred Crescent be lost .

The Brunswick Street Oval redevelopment consultation includes a plan to obliterate this magnificent 19th century elm avenue, of primary significance to the park. They will be “replaced” by a cyclone fence enclosure for two new tennis courts, a massive overdevelopment in the heart of Edinburgh Gardens.

Views like this give the Edinburgh Gardens its much valued character, while the old trees provide habitat in their canopy and hollows. Elms were commonly planted beside tennis courts for the shade, durability and aesthetics.

Removing this historic avenue that links Alfred Crescent with Brunswick Street is unreasonable and unnecessary for the project to succeed. The value of the trees is reflected in these reports.

“Without doubt, the best feature of the Gardens today is the canopy of mature exotic trees that dates in large part from the late nineteenth century. These trees are mostly planted in avenues along the path system of slightly earlier date which links to the surrounding streets and perpetuates the through-passage needs of the pedestrians of that era. Paths and trees provide the basic design and structure of the park [Rex Swanson Landscape Study 1987].

Even if the Tennis Courts are built, they could not be used. Yarra does not have the legal right to lease that land to the Tennis Club or anyone else. The right to lease the land south of the avenue and the bowling club(s) is permitted by the Edinburgh Gardens Lands Act 1967. The legislation prohibits Council from leasing the Crown land outside the existing sports area. There is no publicly announced plan to amend the legislation to support this project.

No scaled plans were made available for this consultation. Imagine applying for a permit without a scaled plan. Nowhere is removal of the path mentioned.

The City of Yarra tick the box consultation has the demeaning title “Your Say“, (abbreviated from Have your say). The flawed consultation is now closed. It did not include any links to Council minutes or reports or heritage referrals, just a potted list of what’s changed. The consultation did not include any reference to an expensive 2021 Conservation Management Plan by Lovell Chen. The council has not published this deeply conflicted study which seeks to downgrade the heritage significance of the elm avenues. The study was prepared after Lovell Chen had already proposed tennis courts to replace the elm avenue. No wonder they don’t publish it.

Yarra Council was tricked into accepting the location for the new grandstand by planning officers who told council it would cost $1.5 million in design changes and a six month delay to place the grand stand where the old grandstand stood until 1977. Yarra council, scared of losing State Government funding, and with a coalition of sporting interests in the chamber, did not question the veracity of this extraordinary claim and approved the new pavilion towering over Brunswick Street and the Oval.

Tree Replacement Plan

Justifying the destruction of mature canopy trees by offing to replace them with the same number of saplings does not stack up. It will take a century.

Yarra boasts about the trees it is planting, but rarely mentions the trees that are destroyed. Trees close to new buildings will be impacted. Every new development in Yarra reduces the space for trees.

The 1888 timber grandstand is backgrounded by a row of beautiful elms that create a garden setting. This act of destruction will impair this view

The Grandstand is set in front of a row of elm. Three are proposed to be cut down.
The largest tree on the left of the image, one of the biggest in Edinburgh Gardens, will have its roots cut and soil impacted. It will suffer.

An precious Urban Forest in the heart of Edinburgh Gardens

“I am always concerned about the unnecessary removal of any mature trees. We have insufficient urban trees as it is and the loss of mature trees is a significant issue across Victoria.

I also have major concerns about mature tree replacement. One for one replacement does not come even close to providing adequate compensation for the loss.

The alienation or greenspace and the loss of parkland to hard structure, parking and other facilities is a major problem as climate changes and the urban heat island effect (UHIE) increases. I am very worried about heatwave related illnesses and deaths in Victoria during a future heatwave.

More than most, I understand the need for recreational facilities, but I am opposed to the use of existing facilities for these purposes. I advocate for the purchase/acquisition of new space for these facilities and have a strong view that this is too big an issue for local government and that State government should take
the lead..”

Dr. Greg Moore OAM, responding to the Edinburgh Gardens redevelopment, Nov 22, 2024

Call to Action

What can I do?

Can the destruction be stopped? Only if the new council or the State Government stops this senseless destruction. They will only do that if they hear from you.

Write to them. Share this post among friends and local groups. Your local network covers many people that the 3068 groups network doesn’t reach.

Write to the Mayor and Councilors with your thought about this. Especially your ward Councilor.

Stephen.Jolly@yarracity.vic.gov.au
Sharon.Harrison@yarracity.vic.gov.au
Evangeline.Aston@yarracity.vic.gov.au
Meca.Ho@yarracity.vic.gov.au
Andrew.Davies@yarracity.vic.gov.au
Sarah.McKenzie@yarracity.vic.gov.au
Sophie.Wade@yarracity.vic.gov.au
Kenneth.Gomez@yarracity.vic.gov.au
Edward.Crossland@yarracity.vic.gov.au

Sign the petition created by saveourelms.com.