Volunteers help with planting on National Tree Day

The Grow Urban Shade Trees group's National Tree Day planting on July 28 attracted 15 volunteers to Ocean Beach Rd in Umina.

Group members were joined by 15 volunteers who helped plant a mix of native species along the road including water gum, brushbox, blueberry ash and tuckeroo.

All up, six saplings were planted along the southern end of Ocean Beach Rd between 9:30am and midday.

Organiser Ms Jennifer Wilder said the day was successful.

"It was a wonderful day made all the better by our enthusiastic volunteers who were involved in every step of the planting from digging through to mulching," Ms Wilder said.

The project was funded by a Central Coast Council grant awarded to the Umina Community Group of which the tree group is part.

Ms Wilder said donations had also been received from local businesses.

Ms Wilder said the group was disappointed with Council's rejection of other sites on the street for additional planting.

According to Ms Wilder, 29 residents had indicated they were keen to have a tree planted on their verge, but the Council had rejected all but the six that went ahead, citing potential damage to underground infrastructure.

"Our goal is to establish an urban canopy on the Peninsula to ensure a greener, cooler, future for the area which is a known heat island.

"We were disappointed we weren't able to plant more trees but were encouraged by the number of residents who wanted trees planted," Ms Wilder said.

Ms Wilder said the group hoped Council would continue to support planting initiatives on the Peninsula in the future.

"It is no secret that Council has been slow to respond to the desperate need for an urban canopy on the Peninsula but we're hopeful that will change as the trend towards greening local government areas was catching on across Councils in the Greater Sydney Area," she said.

"For instance, Hornsby Council has been doing a fantastic job of planting and greening their streets and suburbs and we hope Central Coast Council will take note of their approach.

"It's confusing and disheartening to see places with higher density and more established, complex infrastructure undertaking mass planting.

"It's unclear why it's so much slower to get trees in the ground here, especially since the heat maps prove the Peninsula is in dire need of more trees," Ms Wilder said.

As the Peninsula enters the final month of winter, Ms Wilder said residents should start thinking about summer now.

"It's easy to forget how hot and dry the Peninsula gets with its lack of shade and trees in these colder months, but summer is just around the corner and the more trees we plant now means more shaded verges in the future," she said.

SOURCE:

Social media, 28 Jul 2019

Interview (Dilon Luke), 30 Jul 2019

Jennifer Wilder, GUST