Months-long park closure to treat dying trees

VICTORIA Park will be closed to the public for several months while the Borough of Queenscliffe treats rotting trees that sustained storm damage last year.

The closure comes just weeks after Queenscliff councillors voted to cease a tree management plan that had already started earlier this year due to concerns about the extent of vegetation loss.

The borough fenced off the park at short notice last Thursday (May 26) after council officers and WorkSafe said the site was too dangerous to remain open.

A council statement released the night before indicated the rectification would “likely take several months” with the park to remain closed for the entirety of works.

The decision leaves the community without a large open space area and one of its main camping grounds.

“Many trees still pose an unacceptable risk to the public due to storm damage and structural weakness, and that despite our best efforts, further works will be required to reduce this risk to an appropriate level,” a council statement said.

“In the interest of public safety, council has made the difficult decision to temporarily close Victoria Park to all public access.”

BOQ has started work on damaged trees around the oval and Recreation Reserve campground, which it expected to finish within days and not impact facilities.

The borough said it was also planning a “rectification and replanting” plan for the park for consideration at a future meeting.

BOQ had public safety concerns regarding the trees since October 29 when a severe storm smashed the area.

Council officers designed a management program alongside an arborist to trim and remove impacted vegetation, which started in February.

But a council resolution in March had ordered the plan to end after councillors raised community concern with the extent of vegetation removal.

“We’re seeking to halt further works to seek better alternatives for managing the damaged vegetation and consider options for revegetation,” Cr Fleur Hewitt, who brought forward the notice of motion, said at the March 23 meeting.

Cr Hewitt said the long-term strategy should “protect the core environmental values of the park and set the appropriate nature and extent of camping use for the future”.

The March resolution involved restricting access around affected trees – about a quarter of the park – and informed campers about new rules and potential enforcement action. Those restrictions now effectively apply to the whole park.