Seven trees on Bultje Street have been removed after nearing the end of their lifespan.
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The tree removal between Darling and Brisbane streets started on Thursday. The trees will be cut down to stumps before being removed completely and replaced with a new species.
Dubbo Regional Council’s Manager of Recreation and Open Space Ian McAlister said that an audit of street trees, conducted as part of Council’s Street Tree Strategy, presented the opportunity to not only improve the tree canopy, but also employ a planting and watering strategy that will ensure the long-term sustainability of the new tree.
“As part of the 2012 tree audit of Central Dubbo the trees in this section of Bultje were identified as nearing the end of their useful life expectancy,” Mr McAlister said.
“In response to community and business requests in the area, Council are replacing seven trees with a more appropriate species for the location with the expectation that the shade provision will be increased by 200 to 300 per cent over the course of the next 5 years.”
Council is currently in the process of developing a Street Tree Committee which will review proposed removals and replacements of street trees. The committee will also look at Dubbo’s strategic master plan for trees.
According to a report from council’s director community and recreation on the street tree canopy, council manages about 39,000 trees, of those about 21,400 are urban street trees.
The city’s street tree canopy cover will be reduced to 3.5 per cent if Dubbo Regional Council continues under it’s current tree program.
A tree planting program to increase the canopy by planting 17,000 trees across 15 years would cost about $700,000 per annum.