PLANS to plant trees along a section of Beach Road have been called off.
Kingston councillors voted on 22 July “to not allow the planting of nature strip trees (…) proposed along the residential side of Beach Road between Charman Road Mentone and Owen Street Mordialloc” due to a “refusal by VicRoads”.
“The beach/foreshore side planting should proceed as planned to provide for the timely completion of the next stage of the foreshore path,” the motion read.
The move to plant trees along that section of the road was decided in December 2018.
Tree planting plans on Beach Road has proved a divisive issue at council this year. Early this year it was agreed that “council refer the [Bay Trail] matter to the Independent Broad Based Anti Corruption Commission and ask them to undertake an investigation into whether any improper or illegal actions by any participants may have influenced the outcome in this matter.”
Two absent councillors did not take part in the vote to call for an IBAC investigation. Two weeks later council called a special meeting and rescinded that earlier vote in front of an angered public gallery. Both meetings were hampered by heckling and shouting from members of the public.
On 20 February council voted to “confirm that the Beach Road Boulevard plantings be for the entirety of Kingston’s section of Beach Rd, from Bayside’s border through to Mordialloc”. Kingston mayor Cr Georgina Oxley told The News at the time that reaffirming that all of Beach Road in the municipality would have trees planted was necessary to “clarify a section of the motion that our officers were unsure of. The purpose was to clarify that what was carried by council back in December in regards to tree plantings of Beach Road, which is that they would be for the entire Beach Road in the City of Kingston. This needed to be clarified” (“Council reaffirms Beach Road tree plantings”, The News, 20/2/19).
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 24 July 2019
