“Those trees don’t have to be removed ... And if their engineers can’t design it that way,then they need to find new engineers that can,” Magee said at the time.
Magee said on Wednesday that he stood by his comments and still believed the trees should not be removed,but that he was no longer mayor. The council’s acting chief executive,Niall McDonagh,said the formal position of the council was that it supported the path’s design.
The council says it is now satisfied with the tree-removal plan,with the commitment that two saplings will be planted for every tree removed.
“Council and[level crossing removal project] officers worked together in an attempt to achieve the most viable shared user path that provided the best outcome for cyclists and pedestrians,was within the available[removal project] budget and achieved the greatest future vegetation and tree canopy,” he said.
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Residents say there is a poor track record of sustaining saplings in the area,and the established trees provide shade and privacy and soak up water from the racecourse area,which,as a former swamp, frequently floods.
There are painted bike lanes on either side of Queens Avenue and a footpath on the eastern side of the road.
Some cyclists in the QueenSAVEtrees group,including resident Nicky Willis,said the existing bike lanes felt dangerous due to their proximity to cars travelling at up to 60km/h. But Willis said there was a safer alternative for a new path on nearby Leamington Crescent that could avoid removing trees.
“It’s quiet,and they could put a path in there and that could just be quite easy,” she said.
Caulfield MP and Deputy Victorian Liberal leader David Southwick said residents had been “left in the dark” with a lack of consultation.
“Unfortunately,[Labor] have form when it comes to cutting down significant trees over the summer holiday,hoping locals won’t notice,” he said.
The tree controversy comes two years after multiple trees – including those with heritage protections – werecut down with no notice at the entry to the Caulfield Racecourse as part of a redevelopment plan.
De Silva said her group was ready to escalate its protest if contractors turned up with chainsaws next month.
“The trees don’t have a voice. We’re trying to be a voice for them,” she said.
Glen Eira council haspreviously saidthe area has “relatively low levels of tree canopy cover compared to other Melbourne LGAs at only 12.52 per cent”.
A spokesman for the level crossing removal project said several other alignments for the path had been considered but that they would have required even more tree removals or did not have the space required for a shared-use path.
“We are working with Glen Eira City Council to plant more than 1000 trees in the area,significantly increasing the green canopy in the suburb,” he said.
“The shared-use path in Glen Huntly is the missing link in this cycling corridor and will create safer journeys for cyclists and take more cars off the road.”