Parents outraged as trees chopped down at central Victorian schools

In short:

Parents at two central Victorian primary schools are outraged by the removal of multiple trees before summer.

The Department of Education says the schools are in one of the state's highest bushfire areas.

What's next?

The government has granted $8 million for 330 schools to clear vegetation as part of their bushfire preparation.

Parents at two central Victorian schools have expressed outrage after trees in school grounds were cut down by state government contractors this week with little or no notice.

On Wednesday afternoon, arborists abandoned their work at Elphinstone Primary School, east of Castlemaine, to clear trees and vegetation ahead of the bushfire season amid protests from parents and media attention.

Parents at one school have threatened to climb the remaining trees to save them from being chopped down.

The Victorian Schools Building Authority said it had halted works until it "talks to" the Elphinstone community.

Helen Officer, one of the parents on site, said the school was not given notice to move or transplant trees away from the school building.

"They tried to pull out the kids' cabbages and strawberries from the kitchen garden," she said.

"It's just outrageous. If we have to climb a tree we probably will."

Ms Officer said three trees and some young saplings had been removed and a further 4-5 trees were earmarked for removal, leaving little shade for students.

"We take bushfire safety extremely seriously, but we just want some more time to provide the children shade and natural spaces for the rest of the year," she said.

"This is a tiny bush school with 24 kids. If they're going to rush through and remove all these assets, why aren't they also rushing to provide new assets to the school?"

Forty-five minutes west of Elphinstone, Carisbrook Primary School also had trees within 10 metres of the school's buildings removed.

School council president Sheree Lendon said the school community and staff were not aware the trees were going to be removed.

"Within two days, every tree is gone. Families are upset, staff are upset," she said.

"There are families that have been attending this school for several decades, and now they feel that the character of the school and the feel of the school has just been destroyed in two days.

"I've had people in tears."

Among the trees removed was a Lone Pine seeded from Gallipoli and planted in 2015 to mark the centenary of the Anzac landings in World War I.

Ms Lendon said the school would have wanted to be able to replant it or take seeds from it.

'Will not risk' safety

In July, then education minister Ben Carroll announced $8 million shared across 330 schools to clear vegetation around school buildings.

Elphinstone Primary School was allocated just over $19,000, while Carisbrook received $28,540.

The schools are on a Victorian government Bushfire At-Risk Register of 850 schools and early childhood services "considered to be at significant bushfire risk".

High-risk schools are required to have a place of last resort for students and staff if evacuation is not possible during a bushfire.

A compliant Shelter in Place requires a 10-metre perimeter around the building "clear of combustible materials such as trees and vegetation".

"We will not risk the safety of students in our care, which is why bushfire safety is so important," an education department spokesperson said.

On Thursday morning, Victorian Schools Building Authority CEO Jo Wadell told ABC Central Victoria the authority would reflect on its practices and that there was consultation with Elphinstone Primary School.

"We do acknowledge that it did occur very quickly, but that is because there is a sense of urgency around these works," Ms Wadell said.

"If these trees aren't removed, what it means is that these schools would need to close on high-risk and extreme bushfire days.

"With these trees removed, these schools can continue to operate because they have a safe building in which to harbour if there is a bushfire."

Ms Wadell claimed the arborist did a walk-through of the school as part of an audit and that the principal was consulted with.

This was disputed by the school community and staff.

The ABC can confirm the school's principal, Brendan Stewart, did not know about the works until Thursday last week, a day before the Grand Final long weekend.

Ms Wadell said that there was no nuance to save some of the trees within 10 metres of the school's buildings, but that it would work with the school community and the arborist about whether the remaining trees marked for removal could be saved.

The ABC understands Langley Primary School, 13km north of Kyneton, was also scheduled for vegetation clearing on Wednesday but arborists did not arrive.

Elphinstone CFA volunteer John Lewis said removing the trees did not make sense because children were never placed at fire risk.

"As soon as a bushfire is in the region, all the kids are shipped out, and they always have been," he said.

He said many of the larger trees were fire resistant and others were deciduous shade trees.

"They're not going to catch fire, so come summer where are the kids going to get shade,"he said.

University of Melbourne senior research associate Dr Greg Moore said the department had "grossly overestimated the risk" the trees pose in a bushfire.

"Very often they [the government] look at these situations and remove all the trees because it's such a simple thing to specify," he said.

As well as providing shade, he said trees cool the air, provide humidity in a dry summer and help with student development.