Street tree planting initiative aims to increase Randwick City canopy cover

Randwick City has one of the lowest canopy covers of any metro Sydney council area, sitting at just 18% and exposing residents to high heat, which can have significant health consequences.

Randwick City Council refers to research from Wollongong University which shows that a lack of green space is associated with mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. On the flipside, the research also found that exposure to tree canopy of 30% or more was associated with improved general health, while increasing canopy cover by just 1% reduced the prevalence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and hypertension.

As such, within the next 25 years, Randwick City plans to have an additional 19 football fields worth of canopy coverage across the area, thanks to a new street tree planting initiative.

Randwick City Council successfully applied for $1.88 million in funding through the NSW Government’s 2022 Greening our City grant program to plant at least 2,000 trees by August 2024. It is the largest grant that has been awarded through the program and is being supplemented by $400,000 from Council.

The project aims to establish large container-sized trees in vulnerable communities that have the lowest canopy cover and the highest heat.

The Greening our City program contributes to the NSW Government’s commitment to plant five million trees across Greater Sydney by 2030 and to achieve the Greater Sydney Region Plan’s 40% canopy cover target by 2036.

Dylan Parker, Mayor of Randwick, said the City is working towards its own ambitious goals to ensure residents reap the benefits of an established urban forest.

Mayor Parker notes “trees are an incredible asset to our community and provide a range of environmental, cultural, psychological and financial benefits, which in turn creates a happier and healthier community.”

The rates of physical and mental health illnesses - such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, anxiety and depression - are disproportionately present in households that have a weekly income of $449 or less.

Randwick City plans to  directly improve the health and wellbeing of vulnerable community members by creating better access to trees and green space.

By mapping vulnerable communities based on average household income, as well as suburbs most lacking canopy cover and experiencing heat vulnerability, the Council determined that Matraville, Little Bay, Malabar and Chifley would benefit the most from this program.

Nearly 50 different species - mostly natives - will be planted in these suburbs including Coastal Banksia (Banksia integrifolia), Scribbly Gum (Eucalyptus haemastoma), Brushbox (Lophostemon confertus), Yellow Bloodwood (Corymbia eximia) and Smoothbark Apple (Angophora costata).

As the majority of land in Randwick City is privately owned, residents play an important role in boosting canopy coverage in their own backyards.

“They don’t have to be big trees. They can be small or medium sized, depending on the lot. Everything helps,” said Tom Britton, Council’s Urban Forest Planner.

Randwick City Council is supporting this measure through the Draft Development Control Plan (DCP) that was recently on public exhibition for community comment.

The changes will require new houses, semis or dual occupancy developments in low density residential areas to plant between two and four trees and achieve a minimum of 25% tree canopy coverage over the entire site.

But planting new trees isn’t the only way residents can help.

“The most expensive thing about street tree planting is watering. Water is really heavy and you can imagine how difficult it would be to take industrial quantities of water to all these trees around the area,” added Britton.

“One of the best things you can do is use grey water and pour it on any street tree that needs establishment. Water is the biggest factor that will determine how successful tree planting is.”