$8 MILLION FOR SYDNEY’S TREES

The City of Sydney has announced that an extra $8 million will be spent over the next 10 years to increase Sydney’s street tree canopy and reduce the damaging heat island effect. The City of Sydney’s draft budget provided an additional $2.8 million to plant 100 more street trees on existing footpaths every year over the coming decade.

The draft budget also provided $5.4 million in additional funding for in-road planting in various locations, including Ripon Way Rosebery, in 2018.

The City seems intent on remaining committed to protecting and expanding the inner-city tree canopy that is currently in place. Lord Mayor Clover Moore said “We’re investing $8 million in additional funding over the next decade to improve air quality, provide habitat for birds and wildlife and beautify our city – and to help reach our target of increasing the urban canopy by 50 per cent by 2030.”

The Lord Mayor also took the time to highlight infrastructure developments such as the light rail and WestConnex, as reasons behind the depletion of the city’s tree population and green space. She said, “Because of these destructive impacts, we need to redouble our efforts.”

The City of Sydney’s current environmental initiatives for the area involves more than 31,000 street trees and 12,000 park trees. Over the past nine years, more than 9,300 street trees have been planted throughout the local area and 10,000 square metres of new and upgraded street greenery, with new footpaths, plants and rain gardens have been installed.

Around 700 trees are already planted annually under the City’s street tree planting program at a cost of $1 million every year.

More information on the City of Sydney initiatives can be found at www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au