A long-running saga over the future of the plane trees in End St is over, with the trees to remain in place.
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Council last week considered the findings of a fourth report on the health and impact of the trees.
Based on its findings, council staff and councillors are satisfied current and possible future impacts can be reduced or avoided with suitable management practices.
Three trees flagged as problematic in McFaull Park, around the corner near the Wellington St roundabout, will also be retained.
The specific management options for the plane trees is yet to be decided, but could include tree root pruning and root guards.
Canopy pruning has also been suggested, along with ground cover landscaping to limit tripping hazards.
Council CEO Jack Bond said the recommendations will be considered as part of the 2026/27 Operational Plan.
Council will also review its Street Tree Policy over the next six months to ensure future decisions reflect community values and best practice management.
“The report indicated there is no immediate intervention needed on the trees, so we’ll look at the options in more detail,” Mr Bond said.
“By taking the time to investigate properly, we’ve reached a decision that balances safety, amenity and the community’s passion for preserving our green spaces.”
The tree debate has been raging since last year, when council publicly announced the trees would be removed.
The announcement was based on an arborist report commissioned in 2017, after consistent feedback from adjacent landholders regarding the trees over several years.
Concerns have included root damage to commercial structures, and blocked roof drainage from leaf litter, which has resulted in significant water damage in one case.
Due to significant community feedback against removal last year, council agreed to commission a newer report.
Tabled in June this year, it also recommended the trees be removed.
But a report commissioned by the SHADE Tree community group about the same time contradicted its findings.
The SHADE report was tabled with council, along with a petition of about 500 names opposing the removal of the trees.
At the June meeting, councillors agreed there should be more research undertaken before a final decision was made. This led to council’s third report.
Mayor Ashley Hall said the tender process attracted three applicants, with council selecting Homewood Consulting as providing “best value for money”.
The report was overseen by senior consulting arborist Barry Pillner, who holds a graduate certificate in arboriculture and an associate degree in urban horticulture.
Cr Hall said he is a level eight arborist, and suggested the differences in the reports might be associated with individual qualifications and areas of expertise.
“The previous two reports were carried out by level five arborists,” he said.
“This reports seems to have taken the high value of the trees into account - both as a natural asset and the financial value of the trees.
“This particular case has created a lot of interest, but we want to highlight that there may still be times that trees will have to be removed and not retained.
“But there are some learnings we’ll take from this process in the development of a tree policy to guide those future decisions”.
The Homewood Consulting team completed assessments of the trees and landscape context “to consider arboricultural attributes, individual specimen merit, assignment of retention values and identification of management options”.
The team also spoke extensively with neighbouring property owners to gain insight of the concerns, and accessed buildings to witness any damage first hand where possible.
“All five trees were assigned 'High' retention value,” the report’s executive summary states.
“Each exhibits vitality and structural development typical for their species in the location.
“All make a noteworthy landscape contribution and afford scope to be managed effectively to enable their long-term retention in the landscape.
“All five trees are currently providing amenity and ecological value, which is reinforcing the landscape policy outcome objectives relevant to their locations.”
Council requested the consultants apply the City Of Melbourne (CoM) Amenity Value Formula, and a contrasting valuation for comparative analysis but also provided using the Arboriculture Australia's Minimum Industry Standard valuation.
Based on both valuations, the two plane trees were assigned average values of $43,719 and $47,095.
The black box in Wellington St has an estimated value of $51,596, and the two adjacent river red gums average $161,511 and $148,302 respectively.
Based on these and other criteria, the report’s recommendation was that “all five trees should be retained and managed in the landscape for the long-term”.
Cr Hall said this option will require investment from council in maintenance over coming years, on top of the money already spent on the three arborist reports.
But he said councillors agreed due diligence had to be undertaken given the importance of the matter to the community.
Council’s pending tree policy will hope to limit similar extended debates and expenditure into the future.