By Cara Waters and Damien Ractliffe
The destruction of 100-year-old trees for the redevelopment of Caulfield Racecourse has caused community outcry, but local authorities are unclear who bears the ultimate responsibility.
Demolition work at Caulfield began on January 10 after a Christmas Eve amendment by Planning Minister Richard Wynne overruled heritage and council controls on the $570 million development of the racetrack and surrounding area.
One of the 42 trees destroyed was an Aleppo pine grown from the seed of Gallipoli’s Lone Pine. The works also involved the demolition of a toilet block and asphalt removal.
Heritage trees were cut down with chainsaws, prompting the interim protection order. Credit: Scott McNaughton
Work stopped this week after Heritage Victoria made an interim protection order on January 27 that means it must sign off on any work in the next four months.
Mr Wynne’s amendment to the planning scheme was requested by the Melbourne Racing Club. A spokesman said the club had done “everything by the book” and had consulted on its plans with club members, the broader racing industry and the local council.
“We will also continue to do the right thing and work with Heritage Victoria on how we can proceed where appropriate,” the spokesman said.
An artist’s impression of the proposed Caulfield Racecourse redevelopment.
The Caulfield Racecourse Reserve Trust said it was aware of the planned demolition work but did not realise it would start without any chance for public consultation.
Andrew Paxton, general manager of the trust, said it was unusual that Mr Wynne approved a planning amendment scheme, which did not require public exhibition, on Christmas Eve.
“The community of Glen Eira have an expectation of consultation and being engaged,” Mr Paxton said.
The local council said it was unaware of the demolition work until it had occurred, noting it had lodged a request with the government on August 18 last year, asking Mr Wynne to authorise a heritage amendment to protect the racecourse.
The local council said it was “blindsided” by the minister’s actions and the destruction of the trees. Credit: Scott McNaughton
Glen Eira Council said it was yet to receive a response from Mr Wynne, and confirmed it was the Glen Eira Historical Society that had applied for, and secured, the interim protection order after some trees had already been cut down.
Historical society volunteer Anne Kilpatrick said: “We’re a small little volunteer-run organisation, so not geared up to dealing with an entity like the Melbourne Racing Club.
“What we’ve come around to realising is that somebody needs to step up for this. In this instance, we thought, well, no one else is, we will do that.”
Glen Eira mayor Jim McGee said the council had been “blindsided” by the demolition work.
“They’ve given the Melbourne Racing Club the go-ahead to do whatever they like and, unfortunately, they’ve started by destroying what I believe to be heritage buildings, destroying heritage trees and just going hell for leather,” he said.
“It’s just another example of the Melbourne Racing Club paying absolutely no attention to residents. They haven’t done it in 150 years, so I’m not surprised that they are not doing it today.”
In a letter to Mr Wynne, Cr McGee said the process for approving the redevelopment work on Christmas Eve appeared misleading and secretive.
“The community are rightly outraged about what’s happening at the racecourse,” he said.
Mr Wynne said the government had engaged extensively with the council, including as recently as last year, on its plans to redevelop the racecourse area into a “people-friendly community recreation space”.
“It beggars belief that the Glen Eira Council is claiming to be surprised by the development occurring at Caulfield Racecourse Reserve – which the government has made significant investments in to unlock open space for the community,” he said.
But many people, including Melbourne Racing Club members, said they were surprised by the works.
“We have been racing at Caulfield for 150 years and most people would be very surprised that nothing at Caulfield has any sort of heritage protection,” club member Anthony Del Monaco said. “[The] question is why the club, the council or the government haven’t taken action earlier to get heritage protection for this much-cherished state asset, and avoided the planning mess that has resulted.”
State MP for Caulfield David Southwick said the community had been consulted about the plans for the construction of buildings and new sports fields, but not about the demolition work or removal of heritage trees and buildings.
“They’ve gone so heavily in terms of consulting with the community about what could be in the middle of the racecourse, yet they’ve forgotten to actually look at protecting some of the heritage value around the actual precinct itself,” he said.
“There’s been no consultation with them, and the fact that the minister on the 24th – Christmas Eve – can effectively rubber stamp something and have these trees, including an Aleppo pine, destroyed I think is really upsetting.”
Mr Southwick said the way the redevelopment was handled had important implications for planning across the state.
“[If] you’ve got one minister, a planning minister, who can do whatever he likes in anyone’s backyard without any third-party appeal, then he’s a real concern for any Victorian right now,” he said.
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