The residents of Anderson St in Euroa like their street.

Tall London plane trees line the sides of the street, casting big swathes of shade over the street, footpath and into front yards.

For many, it was these trees that attracted them to buy homes in the street in the first place.

Now several of these trees are being threatened, with six to be removed in the section between Railway/Hinton Sts and Brock St from Monday as part of works to build the Inland Rail.

An English elm, crimson bottlebrush and two purple leaf cherry trees are also set to be removed as part of the project.

Inland Rail said it needed to remove the trees to allow for an underpass to be put in at the end of Anderson St as part of the project which would connect Melbourne and Brisbane by rail.

“Due to the spatial constraints associated with construction of a vehicle underpass, tree loss on Anderson St is unavoidable,” an Inland Rail spokesperson said.

However, it is something a group of residents of the street, and some others in the town, don’t agree with.

Angela Berry grew up in Euroa, before moving away to Melbourne for 25 years, before returning in early 2020 to live in Anderson St with her mother who has lived there for 14 years.

She is upset at the plans to remove the trees.

“A huge part of this street is the magnificent trees,” Ms Berry said.

“We can’t afford to be losing these lovely trees.

“They are 80 plus years old.”

Ms Berry said she did not have any intention to “stand in the way of progress” with the Inland Rail coming through town, or the underpass being built, however she thinks Inland Rail should be looking at a way that would also see the trees saved.

“It’s going to look so stark and hot and unappealing,” she said.

“There will be a footpath, one metre of nature strip and the rest is concrete and asphalt.”

Ms Berry said she understood the reasoning for having a shoulder on the side of the road on the underpass as it would be needed if vehicles broke down, however, she said many of the street’s residents she has spoken to said they would be happy to forgo on-street parking to allow for the trees to remain.

“I don’t think a value can be put on those trees,” she said.

David McNamara is another Anderson St resident who doesn’t want the trees removed.

He has lived in the street for eight years, after retiring from Melbourne to the house he bought about 18 years ago.

“It seems a pretty drastic measure,” he said.

“It’s quite a nice avenue driving in from Shepparton.

“They are going to turn it into an on-ramp. Very sterile.

“They need to go back to the drawing board and find an alternative.”

Yet another resident, Don Santin, said he was saddened by the proposed removal of the trees.

He has lived in Anderson St for 11 months, and said he knew when he bought the house that the underpass was going to be built, but said he had not heard of any tree removal as part of the project.

“When we bought the property, one reason was the trees,” he said.

The residents were upset they were told of the tree removal on Monday, May 5, with the trees to be gone a week later.

However, an Inland Rail spokesperson said the project had identified the potential removal of trees in the street as early as 2021 in its Environmental Report which was put on public display, with the need for removal “specifically confirmed” when it shared the latest designs in November 2024.

Inland Rail said key community groups were also offered a briefing on the design update – which included the changes to Anderson St and the associated tree removal.

Inland Rail also said a door knock and letter drop to affected residents was undertaken in November 2024, alerting them to the removal of the trees.

Ms Berry said she was not door-knocked and had not seen a letter about it then.

Mr McNamara remembered being door-knocked, but said he was only told of the removal of one elm tree.

The Inland Rail spokesperson said Inland Rail “makes every effort to minimise the project’s environmental impact”.

“We first try to avoid and then to minimise any impacts to vegetation,” the spokesperson said.

“When the project design reaches a sufficient level of detail (which is just before construction), the construction methodology is finalised and impact to individual trees is reviewed.

“During this step we work with the engineers, construction team, asset owners — council, Department of Transport and Planning, Vic Track — and arborists to individually assess each tree, to first see if impact can be avoided, then minimised, before we determine if removal is required.”

In a letter to the residents on April 5, Inland Rail outlines the removal of the 10 trees, and said the remaining trees in the location would “require further assessment and monitoring throughout construction to determine if they can be retained”.

The removal of the trees is part of the start of work on the project in Euroa.

Work started on Friday, May 9 on the construction of the vehicle underpass, which will include the demolition of the Anderson St bridge.

Modifications of the Euroa railway station precinct will also start with the demolition of the Handbury St pedestrian underpass.

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Thursday, 28th November 2024

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