Hobsons Bay City Council is calling on residents of three streets in the municipality to help ‘cool it’!
Council is asking those living in Bruce Street South in Altona Meadows, Abbott Street in South Kingsville and Primula Avenue in Brooklyn to take part in a survey as a precursor to help cool and green their street.
The survey is part of the Cool Streets program which combines scientific research with working partnerships between residents and Council staff to help local communities cool the planet, one street at a time.
It follows a successful trial of the Cool Streets program in Walshe Street and Pringle Place in Altona Meadows last year.
Walshe Street and Pringle Place were selected based on their vulnerability to heat and their capacity to accommodate new tree planting. A series of sessions held with the community guided the selection, design, layout and planting of trees in those streets.
Council will now run the Cool Streets program annually with the aim of increasing tree canopy, across the municipality.
Currently, Hobsons Bay has one of the lowest levels of tree canopy coverage in the greater Melbourne region with approximately 7 per cent coverage. Council’s draft Urban Forest Strategy sets out a target of 30 per cent canopy cover in Hobsons Bay by 2040.
The three streets selected to become Cool Streets in 2020 abut the West Gate Freeway and are vulnerable to increased heat and poor air quality.
Residents of Bruce Street South, Abbott Street and Primula Avenue have until 14 August to participate in the first step of the process on how to ‘cool’ their street at www.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/coolstreetssurvey
As stated by the Mayor of Hobsons Bay Cr Colleen Gates
“Street trees not only make a huge difference to the overall appeal of an area but they can also have a real practical impact. Trees have the ability to cool areas and clean air, as well as provide habitat for local birds and insects.
“We are asking residents in Bruce Street South, Abbott Street and Primula Avenue to take part in the survey to help guide the size and type of trees they’d like to see in their street so that in the longer term it will help reduce air temperatures in summer, improve the value of homes and cut energy bills.”
