New beginning for the honoured

THE Borough of Queenscliffe is preparing to remove trees which have reached the end of their life on the Avenue of Honour.

The Avenue of Honour is a living tribute to those who served and are associated with the Borough, during World War 1.

The trees are all over 100 years old and have deteriorated rapidly in recent months, requiring intervention.

“A number of trees in the Flinders Street section of the Avenue of Honour rapidly and visibly declined in health over recent months. In response to this decline, council hired an independent arborist to assess the health of these trees,” a Borough spokesperson said.

“Unfortunately, the arborist determined that several trees in this section of the Avenue had reached the end of their lives and required removal to protect public safety.”

The Borough has a tree management and replacement plan in place which will unfold in the coming years.

The Avenue of Honour Reference Group was formed in 2017 to provide information and feedback to Council, were tasked with selecting a replacement species. An independent arborist provided the group with several options and in the end it was decided that the same species would be used again, being a Monterey Cypress.

The trees grow at a moderate pace meaning this process may take some years.

“Many of the trees in the Avenue of Honour are reaching their end of their lives and will need to be removed over the coming years. In line with Council’s strategy of replacing

Avenue of Honour trees as they die or are removed, the removed trees will be replaced by new Monterey cypress trees at an appropriate time next year,” a spokesperson said.

More information about the Avenue of Honour renewal project on Council’s website at queenscliffe.vic.gov.au/avenue.