Trees add beauty to our city
We’d all like to see more trees because they look good, they cool the city, and they clean our air.
Yarra policy and strategy
Yarra has a Street Tree Policy and an Urban Forest Strategy:
Council supports an increase in the quality and quantity of trees in its streets and is committed to the prioritisation of street trees through integrated streetscape design.
City of Yarra Street Tree Policy
The strategy identifies that we have an overall canopy coverage of 17%, and targets 21% by 2040 (across both public and private realms). Streets Alive Yarra supports the vision and objectives of the strategy.
Victorian Government policy
The Victorian Government has released Plan for Victoria, with a target of 30% tree canopy cover (also across both public and private realms), and gazetted that target into the Yarra Planning Scheme:
Challenges and suggestions
The problem with both Yarra’s and Victoria’s targets is that they encompass both public and private realms—a target for the public realm is fine, but a target for the private realm can have unintended consequences, i.e. it can be used to restrict housing by acting as a limit on site coverage.
A better approach is to set a target for the public realm, and to deliver it by reallocating some space away from on-street car parking. Specifically, Council can update its Street Tree Policy and the Urban Forest Strategy to clearly state that trees will be planted on residential streets (in between parking bays) instead of on the footpath (which reduce the width of the footpath).
Example – shopping street
Typical 20-metre wide tram-based shopping streets, such as Swan Street or Brunswick Street, can have 6.4 metre wide areas that offer space for walking and cycling as well as integrated trees.
Example – access street
Typical 15-metre wide access streets, such as Cremorne Street, can have trees on opposite the side to the overhead power lines, enabling trees to grow to their full height.
Support from Resilient Melbourne
Resilient Melbourne and The Nature Conservancy have published Living Melbourne: Our metropolitan urban forest strategy:
Support from YIMBY Melbourne
YIMBY Melbourne have published a report showing how to increase the tree canopy by locating trees on public streets:
Guidance from Strong Towns
Strong Towns explains the value of tree-lined streets.
Support from the European Commission
Learn more from the European Commission’s biodiversity strategy, and the 3-30-300 rule.
Local champion
Your local champion for trees is Australian Conservation Foundation Inner Melbourne (ACFIM). View all of Streets Alive Yarra’s champions on our supporters page.
As a local community volunteers group of the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), we strongly support the goals and motivations of Streets Alive Yarra. ACF also aims to be an advocate for respecting and protecting nature at a national and local level so Streets Alive Yarra’s promotion of planting more trees to visually calm our streetscapes and enhance a feeling of nature around us is vital. Their promotion of a vibrant and safe urban environment for us all conveys our approach too—that us human beings are ultimately dependant on our urban and native environment for our wellbeing and at the end of the day our productivity as well. ACFIM partners with Melbourne Girls College in a native re-vegetation project on the Yarra River, so like Streets Alive Yarra we want to be part of the solutions to protecting and enjoying the beauty of life around us.
Don Vogt, Australian Conservation Foundation Inner Melbourne