By Jonty Ralphsmith
Trees have been left to grow wildly along the Beaconsfield Avenue of Honour, wrecking the streetscape on the route in to Berwick in the eyes of Gembrook MP Brad Battin.
The City of Casey has mowed the grass in the past two months along High Street but the trees have been allowed to grow, disappointing Mr Battin.
“This is an issue because it is going to end up creating a jungle – it looks disgusting,” he said.
“We’ve raised this with council on a couple of occasions so they can pass it on to their contractors.
“If they had maintained it all the way through, it wouldn’t have been an issue. Now, it is going to cost them a fortune to tidy it up back to the standard that is acceptable in the area.”
The City of Casey is currently undertaking a tree renewal project along the avenue after it was identified that many of the trees in the area were in poor or declining condition.
Phase one begun in late 2019 and was successful in starting the replacement of 32 trees
It was announced in September 2021 that a further 35 trees would be removed and replaced.
The council said a significant number of previously dormant shoots have regrown. Manager city presentation, David Richardson said council was conscious to address the issue without impacting the tree renewal program.
“(The) council will be working to remove the regrowth whilst not detrimentally impacting both the mature and juvenile trees,” he said.
Mr Battin, also a resident of over 20 years, said he has never seen the area, which stretches for about one kilometre, so overgrown.
“We’ve always been proud of our streetscape and landscape in Berwick,” he said.
“It’s been maintained so people driving in still feel like it’s an old country town that’s been taken care of and should win awards for how it looks but at the moment, people coming in from the Cardinia end will want to turn around and go back to Cardinia, where it looks more decent.”
As well as the reduced aesthetic, Mr Battin raised safety as a potential issue saying the trees could obscure the view of cars trying to turn onto the highway.
The council said it has had ongoing staff shortages and delays in importing mowers since the beginning of the year due to Covid-19.
In a statement on Wednesday 16 February, the council said it has a backlog of 974 jobs to work through from the storms in late 2021.
They hope to resume normal service levels by the end of February.
City of Casey chair of administrators Noelene Duff last year affirmed council’s commitment to the memorial.
“We know the cultural and historical significance our Avenues of Honour hold for our community and that’s why we’re taking the necessary steps to ensure this memorial is renewed so it can remain in place for the future and continue to honour those who’ve served for our country,” she said.
