Call to save trees

VicRoads has lodged a planning application with Mount Alexander Shire council to remove the trees because it considers the stretch of road dangerous.

The plan has drawn objections, with locals concerned the loss of more trees along the highway will reduce wildlife habitat and lead to increased traffic and speeding.

Elphinstone resident Robyn Fearey said few trees remained after previous removals in order to install fibre-optic cables and conduct work for the Calder Highway and fast-rail project.

"We haven't got any habitat out here and we have to create a corridor so animals can get about," she said.

"There are kangaroos, echidnas and even the phascogale.

"If you keep biting into their territory, they stop coming and they just disappear."

She said instead of removing the trees, the road's speed limit should be reduced from 100kmh to 80kmh in order to make it safe

Chewton resident Ian O'Halloran is concerned the tree removal will open up the highway and lead to more traffic at higher speeds.

"It's going to be a favoured link to the new freeway until the Harcourt-Ravenswood section to Woodend is completed, and who knows when that's going to be," he said.

Mr O'Halloran said it was already difficult to cross the highway, particularly for elderly citizens.

"It's going to increase the hazard crossing that road and it will make access onto the road difficult for people who live along it.

"There have been a few incidents, but there will be a lot more with increased speeds."

Doug Ralph, of Friends of the Box Ironbark, said the trees formed a wildlife corridor into the Box Ironbark Forest that was a tourism selling point.

"In a lot of cases it's the only place animals can survive," he said.

VicRoads was unable to be contacted, but it has said the trees must go for safety reasons.

There have been 14 crashes and one fatality on the section in the past five years.