On Behalf of the Bayswater Urban Tree Network:

To Mayor Cr Filomena Piffaretti and the Councilors, City of Bayswater

We demand that the responsibility for where new verge trees are planted becomes the council’s responsibility. The City has a clear greening vision! So let’s work towards it!

There are approximately 7 000 (yes, seven thousand) locations in the streets of Embleton, Morley, Noranda, Bayswater, Maylands, Bedford and Mt Lawley where verge trees could be planted. However, each year there are only about 300 new verge trees planted. 

The Council’s current Urban Tree Policy has a slow and ineffective process of deciding where new verge trees are to be planted. Unbelievably, the process relies on adjacent home owners to contact the council and lodge an order form! This process results in streets in our suburbs that have very few street trees, with no plans to plant more.

Worse still, if a verge tree dies it is only replaced if the home owner asks council for a new verge tree. We say NO to this! Each individual tree provides numerous benefits to our entire community. It is ludicrous that it is left to individual home owners to be responsible for increasing our verge tree numbers. 

We demand that council effects a process to provide verge trees for ALL residents and ALL streets NOW!

The background is explained in full on the following Facebook post by Cr Elli Petersen-Pik here:

https://www.facebook.com/ellipeterpik/posts/2147315845435007