This morning a group of community volunteers assembled at the 20-hectare Royal Park site designated by the Bracks Government for the 2006 Games Village to undertake a systematic TREE COUNT.

Julianne Bell, Convenor of the Royal Park Protection Group said: "We considered that the public has been misled over the number of trees to be axed for the Royal Park "Village" development. We were positive that the number of trees in the parkland on the site had been underestimated. And now we are even more certain."

"First, the developer's tree consultants said there were 950 trees. Then the City of Melbourne did a recount and "found" a further 401 trees. This morning we carried out a third count and came up with 1,906 trees, that is, over 500 more. This latest count of nearly 2,000 trees is possibly a conservative estimate, given part of the site is fenced off and inaccessible. As far as we know, ONLY 31 TREES ARE TO BE SAVED. Given the high density, wall-to-wall development we will be lucky if any trees can be retained."

The Bracks Government has long been shouting from the roof-tops that the 2006 Games will be "green" and has engaged in an extensive publicity campaign about the Government's environmental credentials eg over the regulation making water tanks and solar heating mandatory for new houses by 2005. The truth is that the Games won't be, can't be "green" if close on 2,000 trees are to be axed for the Games Village development, habitat destroyed and the wild life corridor between Royal Park and the Moonee Ponds Creek corridor blocked by a huge real estate development. No amount of plantings somewhere up the bush can make this site "carbon neutral" as is claimed.

As the public appears to have been consistently misled over the number of trees on the Royal Park Hospital site, the Royal Park Protection Group plans to write to the Auditor-General of Victoria to ask for an independent audit to be undertaken of the site and a hold to be put on the destruction of trees and vegetation. Royal Park is not, and never has been, the place for a Village.

Media Contact: Julianne Bell, Convenor, Royal Park Protection Group 98184114 or 0408022408 www.royalparkprotect.org.au