Plans to remove native vegetation to restore historic views to Melbourne from the Mount Macedon Memorial Cross have prompted passionate debate.
The cross is considered the second most significant war memorial in Victoria but decades of growth have altered its original view lines.
Parks Victoria’s viewscape project seeks to clear 0.79 hectares of native vegetation in Macedon Regional Park including a small area of rare snow gum regrowth.
Tasked with making a decision that strikes a balance between historical significance and environment, Macedon Ranges Shire councillors have heard from 72 submitters including 55 objectors. Many spoke to their submissions last week.
Victorian National Parks Association has called for a detailed environmental management plan before any permit issue.
Representative Ben Gill said VNPA had been contacted “by a great number of people who shared concern about the plan”, particularly the lack of clarity about the area to be cleared.
“There is concern in the community about potential further clearing down the track,” he said.
“Snow gums in Victoria have suffered immensely in recent years experiencing large losses due to climate change and pressures from pests and diseases.
“[The gums] here provide shade for the mid-storey and under-storey, which is quite essential – there are some very rare plants at the base of the cross (such as the threatened euphrasia collina). The gums protect them and form a micro climate. So by taking the trees back, there is going to be a lot more exposure to the mid-storey and understorey plants.”
Many spoke to a community change in attitude and education about the natural world since the cross was first erected in the 1930s.
Environmental champion and former MRSC councillor Helen Radnedge said nowhere in the historical citation did it say the regional park should be decimated to create a view.
“We now have a clear understanding of the importance of protecting our environment, water catchments, flora, fauna and fungi, which was not available when the cross was first built,” she said.
President of the Mount Macedon dawn service Bruce Mildenhall said Parks Victoria had completed maintenance works in area until about 2011.
He members of the Mount Macedon Memorial Cross Committee of Management had been urging Parks Victoria to restore views to the cross since at least 2016.
“We believe the planning application is the minimum work that should be completed to restore the view lines,” he said.
“In fact, if the previous regular Parks Victoria maintenance had been carried out since the last trim in 2011, there would not be an application.”
But Mr Mildenhall believed there were other ways to achieve the desired view lines and encouraged more discussion.
“Talking to some conservation groups, they believe it’s possible to trim the trees to a much wider viewscape without pulling them out… I think that’s a solution we could all be happy with,” he said.
Many submitters questioned the specific location of the desired view lines, identifying other nearby park areas with views to Melbourne.
Memorial Cross Committee of Management RSL Victorian branch member Frank Donovan explained the importance.
“Our war memorials are the only instruments by which those with lived experience of war can remind those who have not. To do so, those war memorials must be visible, not hidden away behind trees and buildings,” he said.
“From when the cross was built to 2007 that two-way viewscape remained as a reminder to all those in Melbourne how easily we can be led by others into and as a reminder to cross visitors of the devastation that can so easily befall a city like Melbourne and its people.
“All we seek from this council’s decision is a return to the status quo of 2007.”
Speaking on behalf of the applicant, Parks Victoria, Stuart Lardner explained the scope of works had changed significantly from the original proposal of 200 degree views to now 40 degrees.
“This was revised in response to as a result of concerns raised by the community during consultation,” he said.
“The site to be treated is 0.79 ha and it could be less if we can achieve the viewscape objective.”
The council is expected to make a decision on the application later this month.
