PROTESTERS have started forming camps along the Western Highway duplication site between Ararat and Buangor in a last-ditch effort to save trees with claimed Aboriginal heritage.
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Former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission chair Geoff Clark put a call out on social media on Sunday afternoon for more protesters to attend the camps in the path of construction.
“Protest camp being set up to save Ancient spirit trees on western Highway Ararat,” Mr Clark posted.
“A call out to Traditional owners and local environment groups save the trees.”
VicRoads has been contacted for comment.
VicRoads had scheduled to begin tree removal on Monday along the future site for new lanes along the Western Highway outside Ararat despite continued opposition from Aboriginal heritage and environmental activists.
The official start of construction for the $42 million project was on Thursday, with a sod-turning ceremony kicking off the creation of 12.5 kilometres of new highway lanes from Buangor to Ararat.
VicRoads plans to remove about 3000 trees, including some that have been at the centre of a years-long dispute over claims they are culturally significant to the region’s Aboriginal people.
The latest effort to halt the tree removal follows other in-person protests staged around the trees and lawsuits against the state government in previous years.
VicRoads has previously and repeatedly pointed to official decisions by Aboriginal Victoria that did not support heritage claims for the trees.
The Buangor to Ararat lane duplication is part of a joint federal and state government project to improve efficiency and safety along the Western Highway.