Gill Reserve - Railway Reserves

A group of residents facing Gill Reserve presented a submission to Council last night requesting that the Council plant some trees and shrubs in Gill Reserve - that section of the Railway Reserves between Ingles and Raglan St [western side]. The submitter noted that trees with poor form had been removed from Gill Reserve in 2003 with a clear expectation they would be replaced. This has not happened. The staff have been asked to let Council know the status of the range of actions identified in the plan. I am aware of a great deal of work that has been done on the Reserves since 2003: stone walls renewed and some new ones created, a new playground, a pathway on the eastern side, renewal of elm avenues in various sections, closure of Raglan St informal parking area and creation of new parkland, planting of beds of indigenous plants in Turner and Hesther Reserves, widening of the bike path, and creation of an area for dog gathering in Hesther Reserve. Significant trees along Station St will now be fed by stormwater run off following renewal of the kerb and channel. Fennell Reserve will be reinstated and re-landscaped when Melbourne Water have completed the sewer project. The remaining large elm trees have had a new lease of life over the wet season but it is to be expected that they will need to be removed in the future. It would be great to continue the tree avenue through Gill Reserve.