Greening Our Town - Planting for the Future

Drone footage was completed in February 2022 showcasing the low levels of vegetation in the Preston Point Ward (5-10%)

In 2021, the Town was awarded over $70,000 by the Water Corporation administered by the Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA) for the planting of trees in heat risk areas with low vegetation cover and high urban heat. The vegetation is targeted to assist communities in the at-risk areas that currently become hot during the summer months making them less accessible for the whole community.

2021/22 Local Government Urban Canopy Grant Program

The 2021/22 Local Government Urban Canopy Grant program was created to expand tree canopy in high urban heat risk areas in Local Governments within the Perth and Peel regions. Funded by the Water Corporation and administered by WALGA, the program provided $750,000 to support additional planting or bring forward future tree planting in these Local Governments’ current urban forest plans.

Round 1 Successful Applicants of the Grant Program

LOCAL GOVERNMENT	PROJECT TITLE	PROJECT OVERVIEW	FUNDING ALLOCATION (EX GST)
City of Armadale	Tree planting in Don Simmons Reserve	Tree planting in a park and adjoining residential verges with close proximity to public transport route, primary school, car park, playground and other community facilities	$43,398
City of Bayswater	Morley City Centre Leafy Urban Streets	Tree planting on verges in commercial and industrial areas of the Morley Activity Centre.	$48,785
City of Canning	Increasing Canopy Amenity At The Cannington Leisureplex	Tree planting in the car park at the Cannington Leisureplex, a facility with high patronage that is currently devoid of canopy cover.	$6,732
City of Cockburn	Cockburn Canopy 149	Tree planting in 23 streets in Cockburn within both a residential estate, and an industrial area within an ecological corridor.	$37,446
City of Fremantle	Increasing Urban Canopy Cover	Tree planting across seven sites adjacent to car parks, along pedestrian walkways, and in parkland in green linkages to connect green spaces.	$16,520
City of Kalamunda	The cooling of the Swan Coastal Plain, Kalamunda	Tree planting in six highly used public open spaces and natural areas using native and ornamental tree species.	$66,357
City of Kwinana	Bertram Tree Planting 2022	Street tree planting in the suburb of Bertram, a subdivision estate developed in the 1990s with no street tree provision.	$36,960
City of Perth	City of Perth Urban Forest Plan - Infill street tree planting program (Moore Street)	Tree planting on a newly extended footpath on Moore street in central Perth, adjacent to the Children's Court of WA and the Perth to Fremantle Principal Shared Path.	$25,177
City of South Perth	Trees for the future of South Perth	Tree planting in six multiple use park precincts that encompass schools, sporting clubs, and wider community sporting and passive activities.	$59,509
City of Vincent	Beaufort Street Median Tree Planting	Tree planting within the median strip of Beaufort Street to reduce heat for commuters.	$17,320
Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale	Abernethy Road Landscaping Project	Planting of Eucalyptus wandoo along Abernanthy Road verge following an upgrade to widen the road, which is a major thoroughfare linking Central Byford to residential areas, schools and shopping districts.	$16,332
Town of Bassendean	Town of Bassendean Tree Planting	Tree planting within an industrial area, major road median strip, and residential area where homes have little to no gardens.	$14,273
Town of Cottesloe	Curtin Avenue Greening Project	Tree planting within the railway corridor along the Perth-Fremantle line to shade the principle shared path and create habitat for wildlife.	$12,428
Town of East Fremantle	Greening the Town	Tree plantings in seven areas of underutilised public open space to increase community access and use of sites.	$70,805

Planting so far

In 2021, the Town installed over 150 trees throughout East Fremantle. These trees will mature over the next 20 years and aim to give additional shade and protection from the elements for future generations.

Round one includes the planting of trees in the below areas:

Locke Park (47 trees)
Gourley Park (51 trees)
The road reserve on the corner of East Street and Marmion Street (31 trees)
The road reserve on the corner of St Peters Road and King Street (27 trees).

Description of image

Round Two Planting - Preston Point Recreational Reserve

In 2022, the Town installed over 300 trees throughout East Fremantle.

Round two includes the planting of trees in the below areas:

Andrews Road/Canning Highway (68 Trees)
EI Chapman Reserve (105 Trees)
Jerrat Drive (86 Trees)
Additional Trees for planting throughout the Town (60 Trees)

400

The second round of planting was targeted in the Town's hottest area, the Preston Point Ward (refer to Figure 1, below).

The high urban heat is a result of the low vegetation with the built environment absorbing and trapping heat. Many of the materials used in construction (e.g. steel, brick, concrete) trap heat during the day and release it slowly at night. As a result, the temperature can be several degrees higher than the surrounding natural environment at night. This can lead to an increase in heat-related illness and aggravate existing health conditions.

Figure 1 - Urban Heat Island Effect (Preston Point Ward)

As shown in the below image provided by the CSIRO - the Preston Point Ward has urban heat with temperatures 5-7 degrees higher than the surrounding areas.

Figure 2 - Urban Vegetation Cover Percentage (Preston Point Ward)

This area also has one of the lowest vegetation rates in the Town with only 5-10% vegetation cover.

Trees, green spaces, and natural vegetation can help reduce the urban heat island effect by shading surfaces, deflecting the radiation from the sun, and releasing moisture into the atmosphere. Australia and in particular WA, experiences levels of UV that cause skin cancer nearly every day of the year. Two in three Australians will develop skin cancer in their lifetime, and every year 2,000 people die from this disease. Adolescence and childhood are critical periods to take action to prevent costly and deadly skin cancers later in life, including melanoma, the most common cancer in young Western Australians aged 15 to 39.

Fortunately, skin cancer is almost entirely preventable; with the vast majority of cases being caused by overexposure to UV radiation from the sun. Shade provides excellent protection from UV radiation and is able to reduce UV exposure by up to 75%. The current lack of shade provided at local community sporting clubs and neighboring play areas concerning. For this reason, it is vital to provide club members with effective shade to enable athletes to retreat from the sun during break times and for spectators to feel comfortable and protected from the sun.