Black Hill residents 'devastated' after council pine tree clearing

Crews have now cleared the collection of pines sitting behind the Black Hill Outdoor Pool site, a process which began with initial harvesting in 2021.

It took only a couple of days to clear the tree stand, which sits at Binney Reserve between Chisholm and Edwardes streets.

Black Hill resident John Wrigglesworth operates an art studio out of his property, which looks onto the reserve, and said the pines acted as a source of "comfort" and "inspiration".

"It was a major point in moving in here, because I am just there. It was protective - it made us feel like we were in the city but not," Mr Wrigglesworth said.

"It has been unusually traumatic. Personally I didn't expect it to have this effect on me, but to walk out without that view any longer has completely changed the visual context of my home."

Another nearby resident Julian Whitta shared similar sentiments, and said those living beside the reserve felt voiceless in their opposition to the removal.

"We have all found it a challenge. We are simply people who fund the council's activities, and that is the beginning and the end of the relationship as far as the council is concerned," he said.

"When it comes to something that we all have some kind of connection to, and views about, those views are ignored and our concerns are barely acknowledged."

It has been a long battle for Mr Wrigglesworth and Mr Whitta who first voiced concerns about the removal, and the City of Ballarat's approach to community consultation around it, in 2020.

The trees were assessed by an independent arborist in September 2020 and were recommended for removal to minimise the risk to public safety.

According to an arborist's report by the council, more than 60 per cent of the trees had structural issues - posing an unacceptable risk.

"Pine plantation trees are grown to be harvested. Most pine plantation trees are harvested on a rotation of 20 - 30 years. The pines at Black Hill are in excess of 60 years of age," an earlier statement from the City of Ballarat said.

Mr Wrigglesworth said he was not opposed to the pines' ultimate removal, but preferred to have had a staged alternative. Mr Whitta questioned the arborist's assessment.

"We were looking at a longer term piece-meal removal, replace, removal, replace. You could do things like lop the tops off of the trees to make them safe, but retain height for birds. The magpies nest in them, the bats live in them, the black cockatoos," Mr Wrigglesworth said.

"Commercial pines don't live very long as trees, they have about 10 or 15 years before they start cutting them down. They are a production resource and people turn them into houses, they are a crop. This was never a crop," Mr Whitta said.

"The whole irony with that is that storms have wreaked absolute havoc with the trees around the lake. Council doesn't seem to be wanting to remove them."

Both were also concerned about the exposure their properties would get due to the trees' removal, now that the hill their houses sit on are exposed.

Worse than the actual removal of the trees, both men said, was the lack of clear communication from the council about the project - especially from the councillors elected to represent Ballarat's Central ward, where Black Hill sits.

When Mr Wrigglesworth first found out the trees were slated for removal, he said he attempted to contact the council several times, and emailed Central ward councillors Belinda Coates and Samantha McIntosh in particular.

He said neither councillor had been receptive.

"You don't come and talk to your constituents when they come on the telephone and say that they are having trouble dealing with this process," he said.

"They have ignored us."

Both councillors were contacted for comment but did not get a response back in time for publication.

The City of Ballarat's parks and gardens team will now work to restore the soil and revegetate the site, planting a mixture of indigenous vegetation and established trees.

City of Ballarat infrastructure and environment director Bridget Wetherall said the revegetation and replanting works would "reinvigorate" Binney Reserve.

"The planned removal and ongoing landscape revegetation plans will ensure the community can continue to enjoy Binney Reserve for generations to come while ensuring the safety of our residents," she said.