Newcastle Council Plants Hundreds of New Trees, Children Encouraged to Write Love Letter to Favourite One

BY ISABEL EVERETT

Hundreds of trees have been planted along local streets as part of Newcastle Council's Living Streets Program to expand the City’s urban forest.

The Council has been capitalising on Autumn rains, digging holes on street verges and reserves for around 500 trees - 40 different species - across Wallsend, Adamstown and Adamstown Heights ( full list of streets). 

Around 1,000 street trees will be planted this year as part of the City’s commitment to deliver cleaner air, reduced storm water runoff, habitat for local biodiversity, more shade and a cooler urban environment. 

Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes, who joined City staff to plant trees along Tyrrell Street Wallsend today, said autumn offered the perfect weather for new plantings and that today’s work followed a council decision to join a global initiative aimed at enhancing nature in and around cities.

“While most community requests for tree plantings come during Summer when we are all feeling the need for more trees, Summer isn’t the ideal time to plant and establish trees,” Councillor Nelmes said.

“The weather conditions are more favorable at this time of year as it’s cooler and more rain is about."

“We know a five per cent increase can reduce summer temperatures by one to two degrees, and that 17 trees will offset the use of one car a year in terms of carbon emissions."

Council’s City Greening Services team will complete regular maintenance of the new trees, among 6,000 recently planted across the local government area, carrying out mulching, weeding, watering and formative pruning.

The City is running a series of education activities in conjunction with tree planting, encouraging children during the COVID-19 lockdown to observe animals that visit their favourite tree and write a love letter to it.

Ward 4 Councillor Jason Dunn said kids were invited to submit a letter and photo of the tree to naturalconnection@ncc.nsw.gov.au to encourage conservatory thinking and see which trees are the most popular across the local government area.

“We want kids to take a moment to visit their favourite tree and stop, watch and listen and then write to us about how many different animals visit the tree, how long they think it’s been here and what could be lost if it was cut down," Councillor Dunn said. 

“As well as planting trees, we want to educate the next generation about how native and non-native trees support a huge amount of life in urban environments."

Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes and Cr Jason Dunn on Tyrrell Street

Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes and in Cr Jason Dunn on Tyrrell Street

Warners Bay residents up in arms over new development

BY MICHAEL COOK

A development plan for a block of units in Warners Bay has caused a stir with residents voicing concerns over a number of aspects of the proposal.

The development application, which was lodged by Elk Designs is for four blocks of 34 units on Albert Street and has residents pointing to a number of instances where the proposal breaches development control plans including height restrictions and parking quotas.

Residents aired their complaints at Monday's Lake Macquarie City Council meeting, claiming the plan will have a negative impact on traffic, parking and floodwater in the street and is an example of over-development.

Council is still to consult with a number of internal departments as well as a panel of independent experts to advise on key aspects of the development application.

Lake Macquarie Mayor Kay Fraser says there are a number of things to be considered at this stage of the application.

"It's in an area where Council is encouraging development.

"We would like to see residents living close to our town centres so it ticks those boxes.

"At this stage, it is still under assessment and we are processing community complaints," she said.

Warners Bay is the proposed site of a new development
Source: http://www.warnersbay.net.au/