In September 2023 we removed Coast Tea-tree from a section of the Lorne foreshore. In line with our commitment to a slower staged approach, we only removed Coast Tea-tree from areas marked as Stage One on the map below.

Two weeks after removal we held a community planting morning, and with the help of 14 community members and 12 children from Lorne Kinder, we revegetated the site with indigenous species. We will be carefully monitoring the site for growth over the coming months and watering through dry periods.

A big thankyou to the community members and children involved in the replanting event.

We were delighted to engage with a number of passionate and knowledgeable community members on this project in 2023. Through two community conversation sessions and an online survey we received some interesting and thoughtful feedback and were able to, in turn, share key information on habitat restoration works.

In response to community feedback, we have made some key changes to the way we are restoring habitat in Lorne. We are:

• Taking a slower staged approach to the removal of Coast Tea-tree;
• improving our communication on the works and the reasoning behind them;
• implementing a new approach to monitoring the success of the works; and
• hosting a community planting day in September 2023 to involve community members in revegetating areas where we are restoring habitat.

Our vegetation management is guided by our Coastal Vegetation Strategy 2022. This strategy is informed by best practice science which supports the removal of environmental weeds such as Coast Tea-tree, Sweet pittosporum and Sallow wattle.

Lorne is part of the Otway Ranges Bioregion. We're taking a staged approach to remove plants that don't belong in this bioregion and replace them with indigenous species. In Winter 2023 we will be removing Coast Tea-tree from several areas of the Lorne foreshore. These habitat restoration works are building on work completed over the last ten years.

Following the tree removal, we will undertake ongoing maintenance to control weeds which will encourage natural regeneration. We will then also revegetate the area to deliver habitat and biodiversity benefits. Further weed removal and revegetation work will be done in 2024 and 2025.

We know that some community members are keen to better understand why we undertake habitat restoration.

We're planning to share knowledge about habitat restoration and answer any questions you may have through local community conversations and a feedback survey. The information gathered will be used to shape the way we keep you informed on habitat restoration works and opportunities to participate in revegetation activities.

Help us understand your thoughts on habitat restoration, how we can best share information on future works and preferences for involvement in Lorne community planting days. This survey is now closed.