Design-work is set to continue on plans to upgrade Anson Street. As work continues in the new year, Council staff will be looking at plans to retain the block’s existing trees.
Tuesday night’s (15 December) Council meeting was advised that preliminary plans involving tree removals ‘would go back to the drawing board.’
Orange City Council CEO David Waddell said it was important to hear the view of the community about the trees.
ANSON ST: White Cedar and Plane trees in Anson St. (CLICK TO SEE LARGER IMAGE)
“It was good to see the interest and passion of community members about how much they the value our city’s beautiful street trees,” Mr Waddell said.
“Council staff have worked hard to find solutions to the infrastructure problems of Anson Street. In the new year, staff will be looking at alternative solutions.”
“That block of Anson Street is only one of a number of locations that the Future City upgrade of Orange’s CBD is targeting. As well as Anson Street, we’ll be pushing on with plans for McNamara St and the proposed new traffic and pedestrian arrangements in Lords Place and Byng Street. In McNamara Street, for example, we will be adding around 16 significant trees that will create a canopy that currently does not exist.”
“It’s important we’re having a good, sensible, ongoing conversation with the community about our street trees, and how they fit into an urban environment. If we want to make our CBD an attractive place we can all be proud of, there may well be times in future that individual trees have to go but at the end of the Future City Program there will be more trees in the CBD than there are today.”
“These are important decisions for the future of Orange, and once plans are more advanced they will be coming back to a Council meeting for discussion and decisions.”
