Penrith Council’s greening our parklands

Thursday, 13 October 2022

Penrith City Council continues to maintain its commitment to reduce urban heat with the Greening our City tree planting program boosting tree canopy and shade at two popular parklands.

In conjunction with Council’s Greening our City Strategy, the Green Streets program is planting 5,000 trees in six of Penrith’s eastern suburbs. Council is set to further increase the City’s urban greenery with an additional 165 trees for planting in Melaleuca Park, Jordan Springs and Jamison Park, South Penrith.

All trees used in the program have been specially grown in Council’s own nursery, ensuring that they are well adapted to Penrith’s unique climate.

Penrith Mayor Tricia Hitchen said that addressing the problem of urban heat is critical in maintaining a sustainable way of life now and into the future and the Greening our City tree planting program is one way forward.

“Over the coming months, we will be planting trees in these locations to increase shade canopy and ensure these popular recreation spaces remain accessible and enjoyable for residents to use over the warm summer months,” Cr Hitchen said.

“The Greening our City — Cooling our Parklands tree planting project will add canopy value to the 186,000 trees already planted by Council as part of its Cooling the City Strategy,” she said.
Increasing green infrastructure by planting shade trees will help reduce the amount of heat energy that is stored within our hard surfaces, such as roads, and significantly reduce ambient air temperatures.

The urban heat island effect commonly occurs in urban communities and is caused by large amounts of paved and dark coloured surfaces like roads, roofs, and car parks. The sun’s heat is absorbed instead of being reflected, which causes the surface and ambient temperatures to rise. Council’s Cooling the City Strategy has identified tree planting as one of the easiest ways to mitigate this issue.

Planting locations have been carefully considered to maintain visibility of street signage and access to driveways using a variety of native tree species to fit with existing infrastructure.
This project is part of the Greening Our City grant program and is proudly funded by the NSW Government in association with Local Government NSW.

Residents can keep up to date with these tree-planting projects and provide feedback by following the Greening our City Have Your Say Page at yoursaypenrith.com.au/greeningourcity

Photo caption: A render of Jamison Park which highlights where the trees are intended to be planted.

Information contained within this news release was correct as at Thursday, 13 October 2022.