Bayswater’s Councillor Cornish: Push for ‘urban forests’ in city

Held at The Rise in Maylands, the workshop was hosted by 202020 Vision to advance urban green space at a local council level.

Representatives from the cities of Bayswater, Perth, Belmont, Armadale, Fremantle, Vincent, Stirling and Subiaco, the Town of Bassendean, Property Council of Australia and UWA attended the event.

Cr Cornish said the highlight was hearing from other local government staff who were driving positive change in how their tree stock was managed.

“The cities of Belmont, Stirling, Armadale and Subiaco are all achieving great things and I’m hoping to see a number of their initiatives replicated in Bayswater,” he said.

“Things I would like to see introduced in the City include more community involvement in street tree plantings, a minimum tree size insisted upon when granting planning approvals, which require the planting of trees and a tree committee formed.

“It was good to hear from the Department of Planning; pleasingly they, too, seem to understand the importance of trees.”

With more than 20 years experience working with local governments to create more resilient cities, ICLEI Oceania’s water director Greg Hales said a healthy environment was linked with community wellbeing.

“Australian communities are aware of the urgent need to act on climate change and local government has a significant role to play in the sustainable management of our precious and limited resources, especially through their planning schemes,” he said.

“Urban forest plans, while ambitious at a local level, can achieve great outcomes.”