Self-confessed green thumb Helen Tickle has called on Tamworth to take advantage of its first wet season in years and plant shade trees in their local street.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Tamworth councillor wants 2021 to be the year of planting trees.
"Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago," she said, quoting Warren Buffett.
Cr Tickle and councillor Juanita Wilson were the brains behind a 2018 resolution to develop a long-term plan to transform the city into a green wonderland of deep-planted trees, increasing property prices and amenity and cutting temperatures at street level. It was adopted unanimously by Tamworth Regional Council.
READ MORE:
The idea was simple.
"We're creating a greener and cooler Tamworth region," she said.
But during the years-long drought and water crisis, residents found it difficult even to sustain well-established trees due to heavy water restrictions.
With the recent easing of drought conditions and healthier-looking dams, the time is right at last, she said.
Cr Tickle hopes community groups and business will get behind the push for more greenery - but said it's important to work smart, not just hard.
"I'd like to see residents in the streets organising tree planting with suitable species," she said.
Even a tree that might grow in North Tamworth may not work as well in Hillvue, she said.
Council staff can help with that. They've developed a comprehensive preferred species list for the Tamworth Regional Council area, which identifies what to plant and where to plant it.
Tamworth council staff are also in the midst of undertaking a tree canopy coverage assessment to calculate how much of the city and region has a green canopy.
But the city does not yet have a definite tree target, either for 2021 or the long run.
"It's hard to estimate the exact number of trees, but we'd like to see lots but I'd stress they have to be the right species and grown correctly," Cr Tickle said.
"From all our research and from experience on the ground it has more than proven it would be better to start with very small plants rather than advanced ones.
"The ones grown from tube stock or [which are] small - up to a metre high - will end up outperforming very advances trees, because the roots keep on going down rather than all their energy going into their leaves."