Canopy cover project under growth

THE City of Ballarat’s Urban Forest Action Plan is starting to take root with tree planting underway in suburbs that lack significant green cover.

The policy was approved by council in 2019 and aims to increase the municipality’s tree canopy cover by 40 per cent over the next 20 years.

First suburbs to see works include Wendouree, Wendouree West and Miners Rest and will result in about 3000 trees planted.

“We’re focusing on Wendouree because that suburb currently has a six per cent rate of tree coverage,” said Cr Samantha McIntosh.

“We are committed to greening our community and expanding tree canopy in our streets, parks and public places.

“Trees improve the liveability of our city for a multitude of reasons. They improve air quality, reduce energy costs, enhance our streetscapes and have positive effects on our health and wellbeing.”

Ballarat’s recent early start to winter, backed by decent rainfall, has meant tree planting has been able to get underway ahead of schedule.

Species used in the project are a combination of native and introduced plants with the latter a mix of evergreen and deciduous.

Planting is governed by the orientation of the streets. Those running east to west will get deciduous trees, so when the leaves drop sun will be able to come through. North/ south direction streets will have evergreen trees.

The city has allocated $500,000 a year until 2030 towards the project.