Police move in on protesters at Moreland train station over historic tree fight
Protesters have been carried out of a level crossing removal site in Coburg after blocking works at Moreland station for three days in a bid to save historic trees. They were caught off-guard when police physically removed them, including a cyclist and her bike.
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Protesters have been carried out of a level crossing removal work site in Coburg.
Police were forced to intervene when a group of about 30 protesters refused to leave the site just after 1pm on Thursday.
Seven people were carried out by police, while dozens of others were escorted out.
One cyclist and her bike was lifted by four officers out of the work zone.
Another Coburg woman, Maria Amanatidis, was involved in multiple heated exchanges with police before she eventually moved out of the way.
Protesters also formed a human shield around a forklift, rendering it unusable, meaning workers had to lift all fence panels by hand.
Angry protesters were trying to protect ‘historic’ trees in Gandolfo Gardens from being cut down to make way for a new elevated railway crossing.
Workers have now fenced off the site to begin construction but locals have vowed to continue their fight and remained outside the fence chanting.
No arrest were made.
Moreland councillor Sue Bolton said protesters were caught off-guard by the physicality of police moving them out of the way.
“We didn’t expect them to be so physical with pushing residents around,” she said.
“There’s residents who’ve never been part of a protest before and I think some were quite shocked about that.”
Cr Bolton said once Gandolfo Gardens was gone there wouldn’t be another nearby park for locals.
A lot of care shown here by Victoria Police officers who were forced to carry this elderly woman from a level crossing removal site in Coburg after she refused to leave multiple times. She had open heart surgery only 10 weeks ago. pic.twitter.com/Mldpr8VrQj
— Jack Paynter (@jackpayn) January 16, 2020
“This park is very precious, there’s more than 100 trees that are under threat,” she said.
“Even if they get the fencing up that’s not the end of the campaign, we want to keep protesting to try and save these trees.”
Cr Bolton was one of the last protesters escorted out of the work site just before 2pm.
The Leader is also aware of an LXRP worker being pushed by a protester.
Vanessa Birch, 41, who protested with her three young children – aged one, seven and 10 – said it would be “devastating” to lose the park.
She said it was a bit “scary and sad” when police moved in early Thursday morning.
“It’s so sad we couldn’t save the trees, I’m almost in tears thinking about it,” Ms Birch said.
“My two eldest kids learnt how to ride a bike here and we still use it all the time to ride our bikes because it’s a nice safe area.”
She said it was crucial to protect the tree canopy in Coburg because open green space was already limited.
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A Victoria Police spokeswoman said officers would not tolerate people breaking the law and engaging in anti-social or violent behaviour.
“Individuals have the right to lawfully protest, however, we ask that people do so peacefully and respectfully without impacting on the rest of the community,” she said.
She said police had a presence in the area throughout the day to ensure everybody’s safety.
An LXRP spokesman previously told Leader fences were needed to safely separate commuters and the public from machinery and crates.