AusLeisure

As part of their Cooling the City Strategy, Penrith City Council has adopted a tree planting program which will see 2,500 trees planted along with an additional 2,500 trees planted with funding from the NSW Government.

Council will receive a grant of $1,000,040 through the Greening our City program, funded by the NSW Government in association with Local Government NSW. Combined with Council’s already funded program, this will see the delivery of a total of 5,000 new trees along footpaths, in parks, sporting fields and road reserves.

This will enable the acceleration of Council’s Cooling the City strategy, adopted in 2015, and complement the many programs in place as part of the organisation’s long-term vision to deliver cooler, more liveable spaces for a growing community.   

Council explains that increasing the tree canopy in local parks, streets and neighbourhoods will provide much-needed shade and shelter from heat, improve air and water quality, improve health and wellbeing and build resilience to climate change.

Penrith Mayor Karen McKeown welcomed the funding news and said there is no better time than now to take the necessary steps to help protect current and future generations from urban heat.  

Mayor Karen McKeown noted “Penrith is undoubtedly a beautiful place to call home thanks to its sprawling footprint at the base of the Blue Mountains, however, we sit low in the Sydney basin, so the heat is heightened here.

“In fact, one afternoon in January 2020 our City sweltered through a record-breaking temperature of 48.9 degrees. On days like this it is vital for the community’s safety that residents have adequate shading and places to cool off. 

“By fast-tracking our planting and having these additional 5,000 trees pop up around town over the next 18 months, we will subsequently create a dense tree canopy that will provide much-needed relief, especially over summer.” 

In addition to tree planting initiatives, Council has installed splash pads in various locations and is upgrading 90 parks to include modern shade sails at playgrounds which meet Australian Standard and block out harmful UV rays. 

Initiatives around city planning and developments saw around 350 professionals gathered for Council’s Cooling the City Masterclass earlier this year which prompted innovative, forward-thinking discussion around ways to make a difference when designing and building structures across the city.  

To find out more about Penrith Council’s Cooling the City strategy visit penrithcity.nsw.gov.au/waste-environment/cooling-the-city. 

Related Articles

28th October 2020 - Banrock Station partners with Landcare Australia to plant 100,000 native trees every year

26th October 2020 - 10,000 trees planted around Tamworth sporting complexes

29th January 2020 - Shepparton residents urged to help trees during warmer weather

11th December 2019 - Latest IUCN reports that a quarter of eucalypt trees are threatened with extinction

3rd November 2019 - Armidale residents donate water to save trees in drought affected park

24th October 2019 - City of Melbourne to progressively replace popular Plane Trees

13th October 2019 - Darwin set to plant 4000 trees to create green liveable spaces

14th July 2019 - Cairns Regional Council initiative sees planting of 20,000 trees

12th May 2019 - Woodford Festival site benefits from planting of 100,000 trees

27th April 2019 - Sydney’s Bayside Council to plant 800 trees

6th February 2019 - ACT Committee calls for greater protection for mature native habitat trees

31st May 2018 - Brisbane City Council plants 2.5 million trees since 2007

11th April 2018 - NSW Government to plant five million new trees across Sydney by 2030

11th December 2017 - Eight million native trees planted across New Zealand in 2017

---

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.