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The Letters Editor

Bayside Leader

 

Dear Editor,

 

Responding
to Tree Vandalism on the Foreshore Reserve

 

Beaumaris
Conservation Society Inc. recognizes the serious and deplorable
vandalism of foreshore trees over recent years, and the need for more
effective ways of dealing with the threat to the treed foreshore of
Port Phillip, but it considers that a more effective, fairer, less
unsightly and less provocative means of discouraging such actions
than the erection of very high, expensive, screens as has been
proposed would be to instead concentrate on the positive approach of
always replanting vandalized areas, using indigenous
coastal species that would grow to a similar size to those destroyed,
although preferably with more trees than those that were destroyed if
practicable, and protecting the newly-planted trees by:

  • providing thoroughly effective
    purpose-built heavy-gauge hardened steel mesh cages around
    them with thoroughly secure mountings,
  • installing an
    extensive system of automatic security cameras and sensors
    able to provide radio transmission of images and data to a security
    firm for monitoring purposes, possibly including a Web cam
    viewable on the Council Web site,
  • increasing the reward money
    to the proposed level of $20,000 or greater,
  • asking the Minister for
    Environment to move for an increase in the present maximum
    penalty of 40 penalty units in Section 37 of the Coastal
    Management Act 1995
     to at least 100 penalty units, and
  • maintaining the present size of
    Tree Vandalism Signs, but replacing the phrase “at work” with a more
    disapproving phrase and adding, in smaller print, information about the
    date of the vandalism, the species and number of trees harmed, and a
    statement that the protective cages and the sign would stay until the
    replacement trees grew to the estimated size of those damaged.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

 

Adrian Cerbasi

President