We all love green leafy suburbs and the City of Cockburn has a plan to increase the number of street trees and urban forests.
A forest featuring tough water wise plants and a host of recycled materials will soon pop up in Hamilton Hill, creating a unique, funky, engaging space during a 12-week project to replace a hot expanse of asphalt in Hamilton Hill.
The $30,000 Greening Greenslade project will establish an urban pop up forest on the site of a City of Cockburn-owned carpark on the corner of Greenslade Street and Winterfold Road.
Work will begin later this financial year in a partnership with Urban Impact Project and the Forever Project, to transform an underutilised 880sqm area into an attractive green space for people and local wildlife.
City of Cockburn Environmental Projects Officer Lisa Brideson said the Hamilton Hill site was chosen as it was
contributing to a large heat sink raising local temperatures and escalating the urban heat island effect.
“If we increase the urban tree canopy cover, through urban forests, this will help cool temperatures in surrounding areas, combating the urban heat island affect,” Ms Brideson said.
“The City’s Urban Forest Plan objectives are to increase the number of street trees, and projects like this support implementation of that plan.
“We are lucky in Cockburn, as there is strong support from the community for more trees. This project came about after residents wanted to support the City’s Urban Forest Plan and increase the local tree canopy cover.
“It’s a great opportunity to use Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) features, which can be achieved with a small budget.”
The project aims to enhance liveability in the local area, as trees and urban forests are known to improve health and wellbeing.
Linking green spaces with tree-lined streets helps fauna move about via ecological corridors. Street trees also increase property values in Perth by up to $17,000, as shown in a UWA study.
“This project aims to demonstrate how, through clever design and eco-retrofit, we can transform an underused, hot, barren, hard space into a green community asset that will encourage nature, and cool and enhance the local shopping area,” Ms Brideson said.