Council to plant 400 street trees in St Marys

Tuesday, 21 May 2019

Council’s Living Places St Marys project will see around 400 street trees planted on nature strips across the southern section of St Marys during May and June.

The trees are part of Council’s Cooling the City Strategy, and will improve the streets’ appearance, while providing much needed shade in summer.

Penrith Mayor Ross Fowler OAM said street trees are a valuable long term asset for our community and it is important to plant the right tree in the right place.

“We want to help create more beautiful and vibrant streets for our local residents to enjoy. Not only will they look even better, they’ll be more liveable too, helping to reduce the extreme heat we experience with our local summers.”

“The local environment also benefits through the capture of air pollution and stormwater runoff, and local birdlife will appreciate the new habitat. Trees have also been shown to improve mental wellbeing by increasing people’s connection with nature and improving the health of the community by encouraging people to get outside and be more active” Cr Fowler said.

Council has met with the local community and written to residents who will have a street tree planted in front of their property. This has received an overwhelmingly positive response, with some local families have even volunteered to help look after their new trees.

Council has engaged a company called Summit to do the tree planting. As part of the process, the trees will receive formative pruning and will be watered regularly for a period of 12 months.

This is a pilot project, and Council hopes to continue this work in other suburbs.

For more information about this project visit yoursaypenrith.com.au/LivingPlacesStMarys

Photo caption: Penrith Mayor Ross Fowler OAM with the Moy family of St Marys who are excited about receiving their street tree.

Information contained within this news release was correct as at Tuesday, 21 May 2019.