Honour trees deal

By Rebecca Fraser
NARRE Warren North residents have reached a compromise over plans to move two oak trees from the suburb’s Avenue of Honour.
The trees will be replanted within the nearby area to make way for a road leading up to a new shopping centre development in Narre Warren North, but the developer has agreed to include a new memorial walk in the shopping precinct construction.
The memorial path is to include 25 oak trees and will link the existing oaks on Main Street to the intersection of Memorial Drive and Robinson Road, as well as wind through parkland near the new shopping development.
The development received unanimous approval from Casey councillors late last year with the plans including provisions for a supermarket, bakery, liquor shop and newsagency in Main Street, Narre Warren North. However, following the decision, nearby residents and the Berwick RSL questioned the council’s decision and the impact the relocation of the trees would have on the Avenue of Honour and the town’s history.
Bob Street has lived in Narre Warren North since 1939 and nurtured the two trees in question.
He initially held strong reservations about moving the trees but this week said he was glad that a compromise had been reached for the betterment of the community.
The avenue was built in 1919 to honour World War I veterans and plans to move the trees also created a lot of anger and concern within the RSL. Mr Street, the former president and a life member of the Narre Warren North Community Association, said the compromise had been achieved after he held three meetings with one of the project’s developers, Lyall Seebeck.