News Alert |

Local residents and visitors to Lake Wendouree will notice increased tree maintenance work taking place over the next few weeks.

Members of the public are being urged to abide by all safety signage and temporary barriers during this time.

As a result of the latest round of tree health and safety inspections, arborists have identified up to 10 trees requiring urgent removal along with several others in need of timely pruning.

Hundreds of new trees have been planted in recent years and are establishing themselves as the future skyline of Lake Wendouree over the century to come.

Lake Wendouree is home to approximately 1400 trees, with some of the earliest plantings now more than 140 years of age.

For some species such as Pine, this timeframe means they are well within the latter phase of their natural lifespan and a few trees have for some period been in a state of slow decline.

“Compounding the problem is the fact that over the last two decades the trees have been required to endure warmer and drier conditions on average than they have been accustomed to. For some, this change combined with their age, has heightened their susceptibility to health and structural decline,” Terry Demeo, Director of Infrastructure and Environment said.

“As sad as the removal of any tree is, what we also need to recognise is that trees are part of a living landscape which is designed to change and renew over time.”

The Regreening Ballarat Project will allocate $500,000 dollars annually for tree planting over the next 10 years - meaning  MANY trees will be planted for each tree lost in Ballarat over the next decade. 

The removal and pruning works will continue over several weeks.