Tree plantings have begun at Rogers Road in Trafalgar South as part of a project to help stabilise landslip-prone areas.
The Rogers Road planting is the first part of a project by the Baw Baw Shire Council which aims to rehabilitate land in Trafalgar South, Yarragon South and Mountain View (south of Warragul) after 142 landslips caused damage and road closures in March.
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Marist-Sion students helped plant 2000 trees at the site on Tuesday. Warragul Regional College students and the Baw Baw Shire GreenCorp were to plant another 2000 today but recent rainfall has made the ground too slippery.
The project is financed through the Victorian Government land slip repair fund, which gave $10,000 to the council for trees and fencing works at the Rogers Road site.
Future planting sites will be determined by how many requests there are for plantings in each area and by funding availability.
President of the Baw Baw Sustainability Network Doctor Malcolm McKelvie told The Warragul Citizen that the group supports the project, especially in light of future climate change risks.
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“We applaud the move by the shire to address the landslips by planting more trees. This year’s heavy rainfall has surprised the old timers of the area and I believe is a sample of our future with the warming climate,” Dr McKelvie said.
“Our community’s capacity to respond to natural disasters is a key area to develop and we are going to have to be prepared to pay for remedial works. Restoring the hilly slopes that are prone to landslip with more tree cover is a sensible move, while being cognisant of bushfire risk as well.”
A Baw Baw Shire media release yesterday announced that approximately 110 landslip or storm damaged sites had been repaired, and thatRogers Roadis in the process of being repaired.
All works onRogers Road including the tree plantings are expected to be completed by the end of December.
Yarragon-Leongatha Road will also be re-opened by the end of December.
