The City of Sydney (Australia) recently published its Draft Street Tree Master Plan to provide a coordinated and strategic approach to future planting and ensures our street trees provide a green and resilient future.
The city sees the Street Master Plan as critical as trees are living things that age, senesce, and die. The master plan will guide future street planting to increase canopy cover, species diversity and meet the city’s greening targets.
The master plan is part of a suite of tree management policies, including Tree Management and Donation Policy, Urban Forest Strategy and other strategic and management policies.
There are several principles that are included in the master plan such as adaptation to future climate, establishing an extensive tree list, selecting the right tree for the right place, incorporating Indigenous ecological knowledge and increasing biodiversity.
The city recognises that there is also a need for a gradual transition of tree species in streets over a long time frame, such as Platanus, and seeks to make greater use of locally indigenous trees, with less use of exotic and deciduous trees. The 2022 plan draws from a higher overall number of tree species compared to the 2011 plan.
The masterplan currently includes an Interactive Map, Precinct plan, and Technical guidelines that are intended for use by a variety of stakeholders including City employees, Landowners, developers and designers and the general public.
The Draft Street Tree Master Plan is currently open to public consultation period from 13 December 2022 to 28 February 2023 and can be downloaded from the City of Sydney website.