Company fined over felling of trees

By Kath Gannaway
MORE than 18 months after a number of large trees were cut down on the old sawmill site at the entrance to Healesville, the Shire of Yarra Ranges has issued penalties totalling $9,184 to the owner of the land, FNQ Developments Pty Ltd.
The shire’s manager of building health and local laws, Michael Somerville, said the company had been issued with eight fines of $1048 and would be required to replant the 3.2-hectare site which is currently on the market and the subject of a re-subdivision application to be heard at VCAT.
The fines relate to the cutting down of a number of 50-year-old golden cypress trees and eucalypts. “There has been an acknowledgement at this stage that vegetation was removed without a permit and we are currently working with the company in order to finalise reinstatement works,” Mr Somerville said.
He said the delay in issuing fines had been due in part to the absence from work of the compliance officer handling the matter, and the fact that the shire had been unable to contact anyone from FNQ Developments.
“We sent a number of letters to various locations and failed to get responses. What we were trying to clearly establish was who was involved and who was responsible and we weren’t getting the cooperation we needed in order to establish that,” Mr Somerville said.
The Mail was told by Shire of Yarra Ranges’s manager of community relations James Martin following the cutting down of the trees that a compliance officer went to the site following a complaint from a Healesville resident that the trees were being cut down.
Mr Martin said the contractor was instructed not to remove any vegetation, but that it appeared on a follow up visit to the site that further vegetation had been removed.
Mr Somerville told the Mail a decision was taken to issue penalties and require revegetation works rather than take the company to court over the matter.
“We have to be conscious that if we take someone to court and the penalty that is handed down is disappointing, then that sends a very poor message to the community.
“From my experience with courts in this region I was not confident we would get a penalty equivalent to the total penalty we have imposed,” he said.
Mr Somerville said while details of the re-planting had not been finalised, the company would not be required to replant mature plants to replace the 50-year-old trees.
He said there was a risk some trees would not survive and it would be “unreasonable” to get the company to replant if that occurred.
He said that the shire would ensure that if the site was sold in the meantime, the onus for revegetation would follow through to the new owner.
“If we need to, we will get an order from VCAT to ensure it happens,” Mr Somerville said.
The Mail contacted John Lordan of FNQ Developments Pty Ltd several times in the weeks after the trees were cut down, and again yesterday (Monday), but on each occasion he has refused to comment on the matter.