Local volunteer community group, Grow Urban Shade Trees (GUST), has presented a petition bearing more than 700 signatures to Central Coast Council, calling on Council to fund urban greening to address the urban heat island effect.
As a result of this petition, Council is calling on residents to nominate tree planting locations before June 2 as an extension of the community planning documents currently on exhibition.
A GUST spokesperson said urban heat affected community health and safety.
“The Australian Medical Association’s recent media release states: ‘Heatwaves have a greater impact on population health in Australia than any other natural hazard, and are associated with a significant increase in mortality and morbidity rates’,” the spokesperson said.
“With 19 suburbs across the Coast identified as urban heat islands, with canopy cover well below the State Government’s recommended 40% cover for liveable, resilient suburbs, it is well overdue that Council funds tangible urban greening activities.
“The Peninsula sits below 10% urban canopy cover and experiences temperatures more than 5 degrees C hotter than surrounding areas; conditions defined as an urban heat crisis.
“At present, Council budgets only $35,000 annually for urban greening activities, which equates to less than a 10 cent spend per resident.
“Whilst Council has produced numerous strategies and plans over the previous decade, outlining the urban heat crisis, it has failed to fund any activities to address the issue.”
The spokesperson said many surrounding councils, including Wollongong, Newcastle and many Greater Sydney councils had excellent urban greening programs with adequate funding and admirable canopy targets.
“Central Coast Council could utilise the expertise of these surrounding councils along with the State Government’s new Cooler Places Hub to implement a suitable urban greening program within our community,” they said.
GUST is encouraging the community to make submissions prior to June 2 by dropping a tree request pin on the interactive map on the Your Voice Our Coast submissions page, as well as making submissions asking for urban greening to be funded within the Delivery Program.
Make a submission at www.yourvoiceourcoast.com/planning-our-future-2025-2035
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