'Dangerous' trees on Russells Creek 'need to go' before someone is injured

David King said three large tree limbs had fallen onto the path in recent weeks and it was just luck that no one had been injured or worse.

The most recent branch to come down was on Saturday.

Mr King said he had been standing at the very spot the large branch fell just 24-hours earlier, ironically, telling someone about how dangerous the tree was.

"It could have fallen on us," he said.

Mr King said the same tree had dropped large branches before and was rotted out, and this time the branch that fell came from the top of the tree.

"What are they (Warrnambool City Council) waiting for? There'll be someone killed. It's got to come out. It's too dangerous," he said.

"Public safety is an issue here.

"I told the council that sooner or later someone is going to get killed if nothing is done."

In recent weeks, Mr King said a branch fell from another tree on the track just after a mother with her baby had walked past.

And another large branch fell from a tree behind St Joseph's Primary School along the path that school children use every day, he claims.

"The remnants are still there. We're talking about 150 kilos," Mr King said.

"Think of the kids first. If it's going to come down and you're underneath it, you're not going to get away from it.

"That one that fell down at St Joseph's, there was no wind that day. The tree was just rotten.

"Someone's going to be injured or killed, that's the way I see it because this is the path to go to school.

"It's got to be policed a bit more."

Mr King, who rides his bike along the track every day, said some of the trees just shouldn't be there.

"Each one of those in the past few months could have been a fatality. No one wants that," he said.

Mr King said he had rung the council about the trees a number of times.

He said he decided to speak out publicly because he was community-minded and was concerned for the safety of school children.

Mr King said many of the dangerous trees were not small and were too close to the footpath. "They're pretty hefty," he said.

The former logger, who has clocked up 68,000 kilometres taking timber to Geelong, said he had carted enough trees to know how dangerous they could be.

"They're dangerous, they should be taken out," Mr King said.

The council was contacted for comment.

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