A large tree that crashed onto a Melbourne home during a violent storm, killing a toddler, was on land owned by the local council.
Two-year-old Eli Marnock died on Saturday night after the storm brought the tree down onto his two-storey family home in The Patch, on Melbourne's eastern fringe.
His five-year-old sister was also injured and part of the top floor of the house was destroyed when the tree hit.
Yarra Ranges council environment and engineering director Mark Varmalis has expressed sympathy to Eli's family.
"It was a tragic set of circumstances and is deeply upsetting for everyone involved at the scene," Mr Varmalis said in a statement on Monday.
"We can now confirm the tree that fell on the house... was from the road reserve of Hillandale Road for which the council has care and management responsibilities."
Neighbours had said complaints had been made about the tree, but Mr Varmalis ruled that out.
"We can also confirm that from investigation of our customer request systems, that the council had not received any requests or complaints regarding that tree," he said.
Mr Varmalis said the Yarra Ranges Council manages more than five million trees on an annual budget of $3.5 million.
Emergency Services Minister Jane Garrett has promised to review all processes to make sure everything is done to prevent this sort of tragedy from happening again.
The State Emergency Service received 850 reports of fallen trees across Victoria on Saturday night and 70,000 properties lost power.
Share
