Fight to save London plane trees in Melbourne’s CBD

Dozens of London plane trees are being replaced in the inner city and a heritage group is fighting for them. This is why.

Protectors of Public Lands members Bea McNicholas, Fiona Bell and Jill Quirk are upset that Melbourne Council is removing London plane trees. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

A scheme to ditch historic London plane trees from the inner city has upset flora lovers who fret that Melbourne’s character is being lost.

Melbourne City Council has been replacing the deciduous European trees under an “urban forest strategy” to diversify tree stock to build resilience and increase canopy cover.

But an environmental group is concerned that dozens of trees from a species considered a noxious weed in NSW have been planted in Exhibition Street where plane trees once stood.

Camphor laurel is not classified as a weed here, but the Agriculture Victoria website said the tree has irritating qualities for humans and can disrupt drains and lift building foundations.

Protectors of Public Lands deputy president Fiona Bell questioned why the council had chosen “invasive” camphor laurel ahead of other evergreens.

“I don’t think it’s a very wise choice in the city because it sounds like it’s so easily spread by birds – we don’t want it in rural Victoria becoming a pest,” she said.

Bea McNicholas, Fiona Bell and Jill Quirk with plane trees in St Kilda Rd. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Director of heritage group Walk St Kilda Rd and Environs, Bea McNicholas, said there was enormous beauty in the plane tree.

“It’s historically associated with a lot of parks in Melbourne,” she said.

“It gives Melbourne character as well as beauty.”

Ms McNicholas said she understood that the council’s urban forest strategy was completed in 2012, and its research was before that.

“Since that time we have experienced the major upheavals of the Covid world, bringing more community focus and valuing on trees, greenspaces and parks, and the acceleration of climate change, extreme weather and global warming,” she said.

“It (the plan) needs a lot more consideration before we lose these fabulous plane trees and our history.”

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London plane trees are a common sight in central Melbourne.

Commenting on the choice of camphor laurel, Melbourne University tree expert Dr Gregory Moore said it wouldn’t be a good idea planting camphor laurels around farms.

“But when you are looking at planting in the inner city area where the risk of weediness is really low, you’re probably not going to have too many troubles,” he said.

“They are a pretty tough and hardy tree, and council have been planting them as part of what they call to be climate ready.”

The City of Melbourne said camphor laurels had a long history of being planted in Melbourne, and had not become weedy in the municipality.

The tree was chosen because it was big and had environmental benefits like wind mitigation and rainfall interception.

A council spokesman said the CBD was dominated by 70 per cent plane trees, making flora vulnerable to species-specific diseases.

“The City of Melbourne’s Urban Forest Strategy is aimed at mitigating urban heat and increasing tree diversity across the municipality, with tree planting playing a large role in this program,” he said.