By Violet Li
Frances Stephens* adored the lush stand of large oak trees next to where she lived.
“There were a lot of them, possibly 20. They would have been at least 80 to 100 years old,” she said.
“They were gorgeous trees. They changed colours in the autumn and gave beautiful shades. There were birds all around.”
Frances was devastated on Wednesday 7 February when she heard the construction noise from the site.
“I didn’t go up there the next day because it makes me too sad,” Frances said.
A stand of oak trees was cut down and removed for development at the corner of Craig Road and Protea Street in Junction Village, leaving the community overwhelmed with a loss of historical and environmental significance the trees carried.
The block of land at 39 Craig Road was sold in 2023 for $2.55m. A listing photo shows the rectangular land of 6778 square metres had a large cover of trees on the right end.
When contacted, Casey Council said it was still accessing the application on the land and could not provide relevant information due to privacy reasons.
Frances, a long-time resident in the area, remembered that a beautiful old house from the 1940s era used to sit on the land with a spacious garden and a swimming pool.
“It’s just sad how all the things of historical significance, the farmhouses and others in our area, are just being torn down for development,” she said.
“Apart from the historical significance of those trees and also the fact that they’re so good for the environment, I feel they could’ve incorporated them into their development and made it such a gorgeous development.”
Old trees perform crucial ecological roles, such as providing wildlife habitats, contributing to species diversity, and capturing and storing carbon dioxide.
Frances said those oak trees were very high and spready, which might substantiate their estimated ages.
“If you put your arms around one tree, you wouldn’t have been able to touch your fingertips,” she said.
“They were similar to the trees in Cranbourne in the Avenue of Honour.”
As an artist, Frances has painted quite a few eucalypts in her career, but she never got around to painting that big stand of oak trees.
“I really regret. I’ve only got photographs of them coming down,” she said.
At the time of writing on Friday 9 February, seven large oak trees at the front of the block had been removed as well as some at the rear of the block. Three were left standing at the front, accompanied by a big gum tree.
The developer has been contacted for comment.
* Frances Stephens is a pseudonym due to privacy reasons.
