Heytesbury plantations: Police investigate seedling damage

Police are investigating an estimated six figures-worth of criminal damage to plantation seedlings in southwest Victoria.

Seedlings intended for blue gum plantations in southwest Victoria have been poisoned, with damage estimated to come with a six-figure price tag.

Warrnambool Crime Investigation Unit confirmed blue gum seedlings were found to be poisoned at a plantation on Cooriemungle Road near Simpson last month.

Police said the poisoning occurred between August 1 and August 14 with the cost of the vandalism expected to be around the $300,000 mark.

“No arrests have been made at this stage and the investigation remains ongoing,” a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.

Blue gum plantations in the Simpson region, south of Colac, have been the source of considerable controversy in the past six months with a multimillion-dollar buy-up of land.

Earlier this year, German insurance giant Munich Re announced a multinational plan to convert hundreds of hectares into sustainable forestry, with the Heytesbury settlement as one of the proposed sites.

The southwest Victorian district was cleared by the Bolte Government in 1960 for dairy land, one of the last large-scale land settlement schemes nationwide.

Munich Re’s $200m buy-up has been shrouded in secrecy with locals estimating 20 farms in the Simpson region had been snapped up by the insurance company.

Munich Re declined to comment.