Update from David Gill on Roadside Tree Management by Shire

Hi all,

Sending you the Council’s official position regarding tree safety and Council responsibility. Few other matters receive as many public inquiries.

There are many thousands of trees that may be a risk. The balance between environmental concerns and safety issues is always complex.

I am sending this on for your feedback regarding the possible need for a reviewed Policy that best serves our community views and expectations.

 

“I would like to confirm all public roads across the Mornington Peninsula have a Responsible Road Authority (RRA), for Frankston-Flinders Road Balnarring it is VicRoads and Warrawee Road, Balnarring is Mornington Peninsula Shire. Each RRA has a Road Management Plan developed and implemented in accordance with the Road Management Act 2004. The Road Management Plan for the Mornington Peninsula Shire’s roads and associated infrastructure is a tool used to document current levels of service and management practices.

 

The Road Management Plan – Mornington Peninsula Shire is available for community to read on the Shire’s website, and provides details regarding the purpose, scope and levels of service to promote safe and efficient road networks at State and local levels. The Shire does outline a level of service for roadside vegetation in the RMP and completes proactive pruning on a 5-year schedule.

 

In addition, the Shire’s Tree Management team can respond to community requests for inspection of trees to identify the level of risk using a risk matrix. If the tree is identified as an immediate risk, removal will be scheduled in most cases within a 24-hour period. If a tree is visually inspected using the risk matrix and found to be in decline, Shire will add the tree to a proactive inspection schedule on a 1, 3 or 5-year cycle depending on the risk level. These trees are barcoded to record the inspection findings which helps in monitoring tree health. While these inspections are undertaken by qualified arborists according to risk, they of course are not able to predict when in the future a tree may fall. Shire values trees and canopy cover and therefore cannot remove trees on the basis that they may fall at some point, if they are of sound health and structure.

 

In response to your question about liability, Shire has a claims process that can be used in cases where property damage or injury has occurred. This process does not guarantee an entitlement of compensation. The Shire’s Tree Management team may be required to provide information regarding inspections, defects and responses under the Shire’s RMP as part of the claims assessment process. 

 

Should you have an observation or concern with a tree on Shire-managed land, please contact Shire through the following methods and we can coordinate an arborist inspection to identify if works will be scheduled”.

 

Website:           Contact Us – Mornington Peninsula Shire

Email:               customerservice@mornpen.vic.gov.au

Phone:              1300 850 600