Monastery Ridge Group

SACRED HEART
Sacred Heart Monastery & Sacred Heart Primary School – 25 Wicklow Avenue

Background: Maroondah City Council received an application from the Roman Catholic Trust Corp Diocese of Melbourne for the removal of 63 trees.

Specifically, the application was for a planning permit to remove (56) Cypress macrocarpa (Monterey Cypress) and (7) Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (Lawson’s Cypress) from the land at 35 Wicklow Avenue Croydon

The Monastery Ridge Group lodged an objection to the issuing of a permit to remove the trees. A total off 81 objections were received by council which is considered a significant number of objections.

Summary of Issue
An independent Arborist was employed by MRG and Webster Avenue residents to examine the trees in question. He concluded that the 24 trees at the eastern end of Webster Ave were in a poor state due to their lower limbs having been pruned a few years ago. The remaining 27 trees along the Webster boundary were healthy and do not need to be removed.

In one of our newsletters we reported on a consultative meeting at which the Catholic Church agreed to working with the community, including MRG, to get a satisfactory outcome. Almost immediately following that meeting the Roman Catholic Corporation Diocese of Melbourne:-

refused to meet with MRG representatives before they receive their permit
refused permission for an arborist, contracted by MRG, to enter their property
reneged on their undertaking to work with representatives of the local community to plan a tree replacement program
held a parish meeting where plans for extensions to the Sacred Heart School, dated January 2007, were distributed. The plans clearly show new buildings very close to where some of the current trees are located.
resubmitted plans to Council containing still very scant details of revegetation plus plans to leave some tree stumps to be carved as statues.
increased their permit request to include another 5 trees in the Mingarra property along Wicklow/Murray Rd

On 27th August 2007, Council wrote to all objectors saying they have decided to issue a permit for the removal of 68 trees in two stages with specific conditions. The conditions include stage 1 removal of 35 trees and five years later stage 2 removal of 33 trees. The council requested a detailed landscape plan from the Catholic Church which had to meet specific criteria specified by the Council.

A copy of the letter from the Council is available by clicking here (file is 686KB – please be patient)

Around October 2007, Father Peter Ray, who was driving the application, on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church Trust, resigned from the Sacred Heart Parish, requesting to be moved elsewhere.

On Good Friday 25th March 2008 at 8.00am the stillness was broken by the sound of chain saws as Tree Removalists began felling the 26 trees. The MRG and local residents contacted the Council and police, but were unable to stop the destruction, in part due to Easter and many key personnel being away.

The MRG understands that the Catholic Church have been fined $1000 per tree (maximum allowable) for each of the trees removed without a permit. They are also required to revegitate the area as per Council request.