Media response | Cypress tree

Ballarat City Council has a robust Tree Management Plan in place with an inspection carried out on the tree in question in March 2020, approximately two months before the incident. 

Due to this particular tree’s canopy still being in good health and no indicators of compromised anchorage, it was not considered hazardous.
 
Further, wind gusts of 98km/h were reported on the day in question and wind speeds in the mid 40kmh to 50kmh in the days leading up to the incident.

Due to the weather conditions and the maintenance and inspection regime that took place, we believe the tree fell due to natural causes and not due to any negligence on part of Ballarat City Council.
 
Under the City of Ballarat’s new Public Transparency Policy, requests for information re specific Council reports need to be submitted to the relevant governance officer and assessed before they can be released.

There have been no similar claims made to Council this year.