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Boundary blunders By Jack O’Shea-Ayres Concerns over boundary alignment, tree removals, and planning uncertainty have emerged around the Griffith Street duplication works near Maddingley Cemetery, with questions raised about survey accuracy and land ownership along the site’s frontage. Richard Dickson from the Maddingley Cemetery Trust said the trust had undertaken extensive replanting works after previous discussions with Moorabool council about unsuitable vegetation within the cemetery grounds.
This came as a complete shock to us as this front fence has been in existence for decades - Richard Dickson
Richard Dickson from the Maddingley Cemetery Trust. (Damjan Janevski) 553061_03
front boundary fence running along Griffith Street, had at some stage, been incorrectly surveyed and a sizable portion of land on the corner of Cemetery Road
and Griffith Street was not part of the title of land owned by the cemetery.” He said the trust was informed that about 18 newly planted trees would need
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Mr Dickson said the trust worked to replace the trees along the cemetery’s Griffith Street boundary, including soil preparation and installation of an irrigation system, at its own expense. However, he claims shortly after planting, a Moorabool council road engineer involved in the Griffith Street duplication project advised that the cemetery’s front boundary fence may have been incorrectly surveyed in the past. “No sooner had these trees been planted, we received a visit from the shire road engineer in charge of the Griffith Street duplication,” Mr Dickson said. “On inspection, he advised that the
to be relocated. Mr Dickson said a subsequent survey the following day moved the boundary peg even further from the existing fence line, by about 8.8 metres, resulting in a revised estimate that approximately 33 trees required relocation, with the trees since removed. “Th is came as a complete shock to us as this front fence has been in existence for decades,” Mr Dickson said. The cemetery trust has raised concerns about how multiple surveys could produce such differing results, as well as the implications for road duplication planning, adjoining property boundaries, utility infrastructure and mature street trees in the area. It also questioned whether public consultation had occurred regarding the changes. Council chief executive Derek Madden said Maddingley General Cemetery is included in the heritage overlay to the Moorabool Planning Scheme, but that it applies only to the cemetery land itself. He added that council understands there are ongoing discussions regarding land ownership and survey alignment, and said it is willing to work collaboratively with the cemetery trust regarding trees planted outside the cemetery title. He also confi rmed that vegetation and fencing on the vacant land is not subject to heritage overlay provisions, as the land sits outside the designated cemetery boundary. The trust maintains that further clarification is needed on ownership, costs and future planning implications for the disputed boundary area.
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