The City of Cockburn's response to the Cockburn Gazette on 24.11.20 about urban forest cover and the Greener Spaces Better Places report -
Question: How does the City feel about their ranking, taking into account the issues raised in the study?
Answer: The City is very happy to see that recently implemented policies and strategies are starting to have a positive and measurable effect on expanding the City’s green coverage.
Question: The study says there is a moderate challenge rating for Cockburn in maintaining and growing future green cover. What strategies is the City implementing to maintain and grow future green cover?
Answer: The City has several strategies and policies in place to achieve an increase in the City’s overall urban forest cover.
In August 2018, Cockburn Council adopted its Urban Forest Plan 2018-2028 with the aim of increasing its street tree tally by 15,000 by 2028, and taking it to more than 53,000.
It is Council’s vision to ‘ensure that the Cockburn of the future will be the most attractive place to live, work, visit and invest in, within the Perth metropolitan area’.
A specific objective of the City’s Strategic Community Plan 2016 – 2026, is to ‘improve the appearance of streetscapes, especially with trees suitable for shade.’
This objective will be measured and achieved through the provision of new street trees, associated with subdivision and/or development within the City.
This policy also reflects community feedback which lists streetscape appearances as a high community priority in Cockburn.
The Integrated Transport Strategy 2020-2030, adopted by Cockburn Council at its November 2020 Ordinary Council Meeting, also aims to ‘preserve and enhance vegetation along roads and other transport infrastructure’.
Through the objectives of the Strategic Community Plan, Sustainability Strategy, Natural Area Management Strategy and Urban Forest Plan, the City has prioritised the retention and increase of natural assets within its boundaries by:
Retaining and preserving mature trees, especially those that are endemic
Planting new trees within road corridors, especially along active transport routes such as footpaths and cycle paths.
Draft Local Planning Policy/changes to the Town Planning Scheme aim to create homes with healthier and more comfortable design and living features, including gardens big enough to accommodate trees.
The aim of Local Planning Policy 5.18 (Subdivision and Development – Street trees) is to increase the number of street trees in the City’s road reserves in new and infill areas, and provides a framework for their installation and management in commercial and residential developments.
Question: According to the study, green cover in the City has increased by 4.4% since 2016, which is the most out of any council in Australia with low rainfall, average density and 50-100% urban development. What has the City done in those four years to improve their green cover?
Answer: The City has increased its street tree planting program and supports residents with waterwise verge installations.
Since 2018, the City has planted around 4,000 trees plus around 202,000 native plant tube stock seedlings.
Since 2018, more than 100 Cockburn verges have been transformed under the City’s Waterwise Verge Rebate Program which is part funded by the Water Corporation through the Waterwise Council program.
The City is a Gold Level Water Corporation Waterwise Council and to help our residents reduce water use, the City offers a rebate (dependent on size of verge frontage) to create a waterwise verge using native plants. This year the program was so popular that the number of approved applications doubled. Waterwise verges help provide biodiverse greening that reduces the Urban Heat Island Effect.
Question: Overall though, the City was near the bottom for difference in green cover over the past seven years, having witnessed a 17% decrease since 2013 and the City’s grassed area has dropped by 6.65 since 2016. Given there has been an increase in development, especially on the City’s fringes in Aubin Grove and Treeby, what can the City do to rectify and improve that figure going forward?
Answer: The City acknowledges the challenge of retaining and increasing vegetation cover in a growth environment, however updated policies and the adoption of the City’s recent Climate Change Strategy coupled with the Urban Forest Plan, and other strategies will help deliver an improved green cover outcome. The future expected reduction in groundwater availability also means the City has to rationalise its groundwater use. One way it does this is to reduce turfed areas by hydrozoning, which involves replacing grass with mulched areas.
Question: Canopy and shrubbery within the City have both increased since 2016 per the report, what has the City done over the past four years to increase that figure?
Answer: The City is actively engaging with the community to install trees in vacant verges, with certain suburbs identified for more street trees in consultation with residents.
The annual tree planting program has set goals in line with the Urban Forest Plan and Street Tree Masterplan. The City has continued to exceed the tree planting goals each year, including unwanted street trees preferably replaced with a more suitable tree species, and often with more than one tree.
Question: Anything else you’d like to add?
Answer: The City conducts annual revegetation activities in partnership with community groups to install 2.5ha of native vegetation including canopy species and shrubs. Our Natural Area Management Strategy has identified a KPI of 2.5 ha of new revegetation annually, but as the City completes infill from the previous year’s planting, plus other projects such as capital works and offsets, it amounts to about 7ha annually.
This not only contributes to vegetation cover but encourages passive recreation, and improves habitat values for local wildlife while providing valuable ecological corridors that facilitate plant and animal movement across the landscape.