THE battle to save the remaining three Norfolk Island pines at Kerang District Health rages on, two weeks after three other trees were cut down.
Close to 30 local residents gathered at the base of the trees on Tuesday morning to protest against their removal.
While the health service board decided in October 2014 to support the retention of the trees, recent earthworks to construct the new car park damaged the roots of the trees.
The health service said that arborists have subsequently deemed that all six trees would not survive the damage.
Three trees have since been removed and the remaining three are scheduled to be cut down in coming weeks.
Kerang Historical Society member, Ollie Jane, who attended the protest on Tuesday, said this had angered many local people.
“The worst part about it is the fact that they’ve gone ahead and removed the trees after they notified quite a few groups in the town that they wouldn’t be taking them out,” he said.
Kerang District Health chief executive officer, Robert Jarman said yesterday that the health service was waiting to receive a detailed third arborist’s report before making any further comment.
Mr Jane said the trees should always have been incorporated into the plans for the new health service.
“These trees should have been taken into consideration when the hospital was designed and I think the architects were wrong and the board was wrong by not making sure they were told to plan around the trees,” he said.
Mr Jane said he believed it wasn’t too late to save the remaining trees.
“I think you’d go a long way before you found Norfolk Island pines that were in such good condition and as big as these trees,” he said.
“Even now, when you look at the works that have been done, why can’t these remaining trees stay?”
Fellow protestor Anne Thompson the trees were iconic and historic and “would be treasured in any other town”.
Mrs Thompson said it appeared “particular people in authority” had always wanted the trees gone.
“The community has been shown much disrespect because the hospital board announced in October 2014 that they were going to save these trees, but with no notice whatsoever they started removing three of them,” she said.
