Sydney’s Georges River Council has commenced planting trees through its Carlton Canopy Corridor project, with the first trees planted in Beverly Hills.
Throughout November and December, Council’s contractor is planting over 400 native trees in streets and parks, starting in Beverly Hills and stretching to Carlton and Kogarah Bay.
The trees planted in this project will create a continuous canopy corridor, connecting the more than 500 trees planted since 2019 in two separate canopy corridors in Beverly Hills and Kogarah Bay, Council said in a statement today.
The species of the trees and their planting locations were chosen to maximise the cooling of local streets and to reduce urban heat islands, which are created as concentrated pavement and buildings absorb heat, resulting in health impacts and increased energy costs, it said.
“The community can learn more about the Carlton Canopy Corridor project and the benefits of urban trees through the unique tree education tags that are located on one in five trees. The tags also feature artwork by the children attending Council’s Early Learning Centres,” Council said.
Of the 1,000 trees in the Carlton Canopy Corridor project, 790 trees will be planted directly by Council, with a further 210 being given away to local schools and urban centres.
The project is part of the Greening Our City grant program that is funded by the NSW Government in association with Local Government NSW.
“Georges River Council is committed to the conservation, restoration and enhancement of our environment,” said Georges River Council General Manager, Gail Connolly.
“The project supports our target to expand the tree canopy in urban areas, aiming for a minimum of 40% canopy cover across the Georges River Local Government Area (LGA) by 2038.”
The Carlton Canopy Corridor project is expected to be complete by mid-2022, with all 1,000 new trees planted in the Georges River LGA.