By Adam Carey
Mont Albert resident Sigrid Ganeson loved her home’s century-old cypress hedge; a deep green, primly pruned colossus that towered more than three metres high, giving generous shade and a home for urban wildlife.
Ganeson inherited the hedge when she bought the home five years ago, and has spent hundreds of dollars every year pruning it. Last weekend she destroyed it, a decision she says was driven by her local council’s inflexible ultimatum that she either cut it back so severely it would have died anyway, pay several thousand dollars to widen the footpath, or face potential litigation.
Mont Albert resident Sigrid Ganeson reluctantly chopped down the cypress hedge on her property following a council ultimatum.Credit: Justin McManus
“It was beautiful, it gave shade; I hate heat,” Ganeson said of the hedge.
Since chopping it down, she has faced blowback from neighbours, but said their animus should be directed at the local council.
“I’ve had 120 people at my door this weekend, asking what the hell I’ve decided to do, why did I ruin a part of local heritage? And it’s not me … this is never what we wanted as homeowners.”
Ganeson’s hedge was one of about 40 covered by the City of Whitehorse’s new Significant Hedge Maintenance Policy, adopted by the council in May in an attempted compromise between lovers and haters of the grand hedges of Melbourne’s leafy east.
Ganeson’s hedge before it was chopped down.
Recognising that conifer hedges die off when pruned too heavily, the policy gives hedge owners the right to apply to have the footpath widened at their expense, so neither they nor the council breaks disability discrimination laws regarding access.
The policy states that significant hedges must be maintained so that they do not overhang the footpath or nature strip at a height less than 2½ metres from the ground and must be pruned back to the property line.
The maximum penalty for breaching the council’s local law on encroaching vegetation is a $2000 fine, and council can also forcibly prune back the hedge at the owner’s expense.
Ganeson accepts that her hedge encroached onto the footpath, but says it was never so much that passers-by had to step onto the nature strip to get around it. Quotes she obtained for the widening exceeded $6000, and required her to obtain a separate permit to relocate a Telstra services pit.
Professional hedge trimmer Chris Taylor wrote to the council late last year, vouching for Ganeson’s dedication to maintaining the hedge and pleading for the council to look at the issue with “rational eyes”.
“I have been maintaining this hedge two to three times a year since the new owners took over,” Taylor wrote. “The hedge has been trimmed as far back off the council footpath as possible each trim yet unfortunately there is only so far it can be taken back, as cypress trees sparingly grow from ‘old wood’.”
Two other “beautiful hedges” had already been lost following a complaint about footpath access, Taylor wrote.
But Whitehorse City Council said Ganeson’s hedge has been the subject of multiple complaints in the past 12 months. It is believed to be the first hedge chopped down in Whitehorse since the council adopted the new policy.
“The hedge breached the local law and did not comply with the Disability Discrimination Act. It did not align with the current or previous Significant Hedge Maintenance Policy and significantly obstructed the footpath,” a council spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said Whitehorse City Council values the aesthetic and environmental benefits of hedges, and adopted the policy to balance these values with public safety and compliance.
“This policy provides hedge owners with alternatives to removal, aiming to address compliance issues while preserving the hedges,” the spokesperson said. “While this approach may not be common in other councils, Whitehorse City Council recognise and appreciate the unique contribution that hedges make to our community.”
Victoria Walks chief executive Ben Rossiter said street side vegetation provides important shading for pedestrians and that “green streets make our neighbourhoods more interesting, more walkable and more liveable”.
He said it was sad to see a hedge destroyed, but also backed the council’s insistence that hedges must be regularly pruned to stay within a homeowner’s boundary.
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