City of Yarra admits it did not have permit to cut down trees during Burnley Golf Course redevelopment

Red-faced Yarra Council bosses have confessed they didn’t follow their own rules when they chopped down more than 20 mature trees during the Burnley Golf Course redevelopment.

Red-faced Yarra council bosses have admitted they bungled their own planning rules for the Burnley Golf Course redevelopment, which led to the chopping down of mature trees at the public course.

The Greens-led council fessed up to the mea culpa, saying a permit had been required for tree removal under the Heritage Overlay that covers the nine-hole course on Madden Grove.

“Planning is a complex process and we don’t always get it right,’’ the council said in a statement.

The stuff-up follows revelations by the Herald Sun that the council also did not conduct an environmental-impact statement for the $2.2m project.

Residents were outraged after the council cut down 25 mature trees at Burnley Golf Course. Picture: Supplied

The council has now admitted it needed a permit to cut the trees down. Picture: Supplied

More than two dozen mature trees were axed by the council.

The course changes aimed to reduce the risk of golf balls straying outside the course boundary and on to vehicles on the Monash Freeway.

The problem was considered a compensation risk for the council if balls hit vehicles on the nearby freeway.

The council has now said it will engage an independent planning expert to apply for the permit on its behalf.

Another expert will then assess the application.

Residents were also querying the project’s tender process and approvals.

The project was intended to remove the risk of stray golf balls landing on the Monash Freeway. Picture: Michael Klein

The Burnley Golf Course, owned by the council, is a popular nine-hole course. Picture: Michael Klein

Councillors Michael Glynatsis, Stephen Jolly and Bridgid O’Brien have written to Yarra’s governance boss Phil De Losa seeking an investigation and review by the council’s Audit and Risk Committee, describing the failure as “astonishing”.

“How did the due diligence process fail so badly?,” they asked.

Cr Jolly slammed the political hypocrisy of a Green-led council chopping down healthy trees at a golf course.

“However hypocrisy isn’t illegal. Felling trees without permits is and we want an investigation to see how this was allowed to happen.’’

Yarra Residents Collective spokesman Adam Promnitz said the planning oversight was yet another governance blunder at the troubled administration.

“How can a council that breaches its own planning rules be trusted and have any form of integrity?’’

“That despite having a monitor appointed, the council still shows a deep level of incompetence and the community has completely lost trust in this council.’’

Council Watch spokesman Dean Hurlston said the error showed that Yarra was expert at nothing.

Yarra said it was committed to “continuous improvement and learning from our mistakes’’.

“(The council has) implemented more rigorous checks for permit requirements on all Council projects in the future, including those that require tree removal.’’