The City of Melbourne has recently released its latest draft urban forest precinct maps and specifically East Melbourne’s green canopy improvements. Continuing their efforts to make the city a better place for residents to live and for the environment, the council is currently holding a consultation on these planned initiatives aimed at raising the tree coverage and the variety of species in the district.
These draft plans for East Melbourne are part of a larger strategy to develop and sustain Melbourne’s urban canopy cover, the important role of which is to act as a buffer against climate change, minimize the heat island effect, and enhance the quality of air in Melbourne. The council has a vision to have a city in the middle of a forest and not a forest in the middle of the city, as is mostly the case.
Councilor Rohan Leppert of the Environment portfolio noted that the community needs to be involved in the development of such plans. ‘’The density of green trees and parks is quite apparent in the streets of East Melbourne and is very much about the place and its livability,’’ he said. More importantly, we want our work to be part of responding to these environmental issues. At the same time, this needs to align with the spirit of what is desirable among our citizens in urban areas.
The draft plans for East Melbourne put forward the following few strategic aims: the overall tree canopy cover of the area 25% is planned to be raised to 40% by 2040. This will mean establishing new trees in streets, parks and any other land that is in the public domain, the initiative will also entail ensuring the private property owners build the urban forest in their compounds.
One of the important factors of the plan is species selection in terms of both, diversity and resistance. The council’s hope is to minimize the monoculture of a few tree species in the urban greenery since if affected by pestilence or diseases the urban forest will be severely affected. However, local and foreign species will be selected based on their adaptability to Melbourne’s fragile climatic conditions and overall contribution to the ecosystem’s value added.
There are seemingly proposed designations of ‘green corridors’ in most parts in East Melbourne aimed at connecting outer green spaces to ensure a continuity of vegetation. These corridors are not going to beautify the place only; they will also serve biological needs of wildlife and increase biologically diverse facies.
The draft plans also consider the problem of aging trees in East Melbourne. Huge numbers of the suburb’s elm and plane trees are now coming to the end of their useful life and the council have initiated a policy whereby the suburb can continue to be a ‘city of trees’ in the decades ahead.
Another of the main areas of consideration for the urban forest strategy is water. As climate change is believed to result in more frequent and severe droughts, the plans provide for better ways to address water conservation and water supply fundamentals. This involves increasing the scope of raingardens and the use of spill and overflow to passively maximize access to water resources.
The local residents have generated varying responses towards the draft plans. Another local of East Melbourne, Margaret Chen, supported the action, saying, ‘I like the fact that there will be even more trees and green zones’. It is perhaps the most important reason why our neighborhood is so unique.” However, some issues have been raised concerning views and sunlight, especially when the planning permission involves planting new trees.
In order to apprehend these considerations, the council has organized a number of public engagement meetings across East Melbourne. These stages will afford the residents the chance to be informed on the laid down agenda and freely participate in the forums to air their opinions and make comments. For those who cannot attend in person there is also an online survey and a special interactive mapping service.
The ground and blog programs for bringing more trees to East Melbourne are part of a long-term vision for increasing the tree canopy cover in all parts of the City of Melbourne. Every geographical location presents its own problems as well as openings, and the council has been adjusting to this region by region. In that case, the goal of East Melbourne is to maintain the suburb’s historic character along with the optimization of its green network.
The people of the region are now paying attention to the financial gains of having urban forests. Mirow & Watson (2013) identified that places that contain better tree canopy cover can have increased property value, high cooling cost savings, and active retail. The council wants to get greater economic returns in the future from East Melbourne’s urban forest investment.
With climate change remaining a firm reality, with ever burgeoning impacts on urban ecosystems, strategies such as Melbourne’s urban forest strategy becomes even more important. This type of planning for East Melbourne is a pro-active action of making a city environment more resistant to adverse effects of climate change on the occupants as well as being friendly to the climatic conditions of the region.
The public participation concerning the East Melbourne urban forest plans will take six weeks in each round, and the council will study the input and finalize the strategy before moving to the next round of consultation. These plans require detailed planning in the first years of 2025 and the constant supervision and evaluation to maintain the thriving nature of the urban forest taking into consideration the conditions of the urban spaces.
For East Melbourne to embrace its greenery future, the three component of the community, council, residents, and business people, must work hand in hand to implement the urban forest plans. Being on the idea of encouraging community relations with focus on environmental issues, this campaign is fit to give East Melbourne a new face of sustainability in all its aspects and set up an example for other quarters in the city.
