PROMISES to preserve as much vegetation as possible while building the Kingston portion of the Bay Trail have failed to measure up, according to a Mentone resident.
Stephen Calvert-Smith reckons contractors hired by Kingston Council to build the Bay Trail section between Charman Rd and the Mentone Life Saving Club have cut an excessive amount of vegetation from the foreshore at Plummer Rd where a new parking lane is being installed.
“I reckon they’ve put it down about another 0.2 of a metre into the foreshore than they’re supposed to be,” Mr Calvert-Smith said.
The Mentone resident has carried out his own measurements of the a parking lane on the south side of Plummer Rd.
“It’s supposed to be 3.1 and it’s actually 3.3 [metres].”
Community groups, headed by the Kingston Residents Association, took council’s proposal to build the shared bike and pedestrian pathway between Charman Rd and the life saving club to VCAT, arguing “excessive” tea tree and scrub was being removed to build the one-kilometre section of the Bay Trail.
VCAT ruled the pathway could proceed in April (‘Bay Trail gets VCAT go ahead’, The News 9/4/15).
Council acknowledged Mr Calvert-Smith’s concerns when contacted by The News.
City assets and environment general manager Daniel Freer met Mr Calvert-Smith at Plummer Rd last week to discuss the apparent discrepancy in parking lane width.
“Precise measuring of the site” will be done by council to determine whether the construction company hired by council to build the Bay Trail path followed the correct dimensions.
“The Bay Trail project is an important link to promote cycling and walking around Port Phillip Bay and will be a fantastic community asset,” Mr Freer said.
“Council is keen to see the Bay Trail built with minimal vegetation loss and will investigate to determine whether an extra 20 centimetres of vegetation was removed.”
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 29 July 2015
