RESIDENTS in the South West have been left outraged by the recent vegetation pruning works undertaken by Powercor with some streetscapes in the region seemingly ruined.

Residents said they were frustrated that trees were being “hacked” and that they had been given inadequate warning prior to works commencing.

One Hamilton resident, Peter, who did not want to give his full name said the crews had cut trees further away than required and he had received no prior notice of the pruning.

“They made toothpicks out of eucalypts,” he said.

In response to the works done outside and on Peter’s property, a Powercor spokesperson said vegetation cutting was an important part of how Powercor keep their network safe and reliable.

“As part of our program, our contractors cut back trees on private and public land that are growing in proximity to powerlines,” they said.

“During an inspection late last year, Powercor identified vegetation at this address required cutting to ensure it did not grow too close to the powerlines.

“Last week, our contractors attended the site to undertake the vegetation works.

“The location is in a hazardous bushfire risk area, so all precautions are taken when cutting to ensure clearance requirements are met.”

It is not just Hamilton that has experienced problems - residents in Tarrington, Woodhouse and Dunkeld have also voiced their concerns on community Facebook groups and filed complaints with Powercor.

In a post on ‘Dunkeld Community Info’ residents aired their frustrations, one commentor said “these blokes get a bit trigger happy with the chainsaw!” and another said “same in Tarrington, wish they would just remove the trees and plant low growing native shrubs, seems a huge waste of money and the result is awful.”

While other Facebook users called the pruning “butchering”, “a bloody disgrace”, “an eyesore” and “unacceptable”.

In Woodhouse, farmer, Alan Fenwick said he had received a notice from Powercor that trees on/or adjacent to his property required pruning to maintain compliance with the Victorian Government’s Electricity Safety (Electric Line Compliance) Regulations 2015, on September 29, 2021.

According to the notice left with Mr Fenwick by a Powercor representative, works were due to commence between 14 to 60 days from the date of the notice.

119 days later, on January 26 the works were completed and Mr Fenwick and his son, Oliver spent two hours clearing branches left on their hot wire fence by the operator.

“On our internal plantation fence hotwire … we spent two hours with a chainsaw cleaning up what they’d dropped over,” he said.

“It shorted out the hot wire in dry grass … this is very negligent in my opinion.

“Some (trees) have been cut excessively short … when questioned the operator said he was looking into the sun and cut them a bit short …  he did not care about shorting out the internal fence.”

Mr Fenwick also questioned why some trees were included in the pruning as they did not meet the height requirements and were not near the powerlines.