Members of the committee for Ballarat's Avenue of Honour have described damage to the trees and plaques sustained in Friday's wild storm as 'devastating' and 'disappointing'.
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Arch of Victory/ Avenue of Honour committee president Garry Snowden said people had worked hard for 'so long' to protect and preserve the avenue and he was 'lost for words' seeing the aftermath.
"It has always been a memorial of great pride for Ballarat," he said.
"Pride in the number of men and women who enlisted to serve when their country called on them to do so and pride because of the community response here that created our arch and our avenue."
The Courier understands more than 52 memorial trees were destroyed in the storms and some plaques have been damaged.
Another 48 memorial trees have branch damage and many non-memorial trees have fallen.
The worst of the damage is at the Weatherboard end of the avenue, past the railway crossing.
Mr Snowden said it was a massive setback for the avenue and a lot of work for City of Ballarat to clean up and tackle repairs and replanting.
"The challenge is for us to show the same sort of determination and resilience as our service men and women showed when they were confronted by adversity," he said.
"We have to confront it and get on with the job of the necessary repairs.
"I would like to commend the council staff who have already done such a great job of clearing the road, it would have been a very big job initially."
Mr Snowden said the committee would advocate for replanting of fallen trees and may reconsider the appropriateness of some tree species with expert advice.
He said he was committed to advocating for the avenue.
"I appreciate all the men and women who are commemorated out here were no different to me, they just happened to be born at a time they were called upon to serve in the most horrendous war the world has ever seen," he said.
"The least we can do is do our best to maintain the memorial that is created in their honour."
The Ballarat Avenue of Honour is the earliest known memorial avenue to be planted in Victoria, planted in memory of those in the district who served in World War One.
It is the longest Avenue of Honour in Australia at 22 kilometres in length, with 3801 trees. Planting began in June 1917 and finished in June 1919.
City of Ballarat councillor and Arch of Victory/ Avenue of Honour committee member Daniel Moloney said it was 'horrific' to see the damage when he drove the avenue a few hours after the storm.
"There are a few parts where several trees have been knocked down in a row," he said.
"It is probably one of the most significant impacts the avenue has ever faced.
Cr Moloney said about 30 trees were typically replaced each year on the avenue due to age, disease or car crashes, so to lose an additional 50 at once was a big blow.
He said it would likely be a number of weeks before clean up was completed and replanting would have to wait until autumn to give new trees the best chance of survival.
Cr Moloney said many plaques would have to be repaired or recreated due to damage from falling trees.
"We were already expecting another significant impact as next year where we will need to remove around 30 dead trees," he said.
"We are currently seeking Heritage Victoria approval for those near the Burrumbeet end.
"The combination is quite a significant scar on the Avenue of Honour.
"It will take awhile to clean it up and restore it but we are equally confident it will continue to bounce back and it will always have a prominent place in Ballarat."
Bacchus Marsh's Avenue of Honour was also hit hard by the storms.
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