Urban Tree Canopy Strategy

Consultation Process

In February and March 2024 we sought community input to help us develop our Urban Tree Canopy Strategy.

Why did we consult?

Across Indigo Shire, our trees are a significant and valued part of life, with important connections to traditional and modern cultures, our landscape and significant places, health and wellbeing, the environment, tourism and economy, our community identity and more.

We want to ensure these connections for future generations, and as our region becomes more vulnerable to climate change, the development of an Urban Tree Canopy Strategy is critical so that we have a plan that maps how we will manage, protect and enhance the tree cover within our townships.

We committed to developing this strategy as part of our Council Plan (2021-2025). It builds on our involvement in the Naturally Cooler Towns Project in 2022, which highlighted the significant gap in local government governance structures for informing the way we manage our township trees to maximise their benefits such as shade and cooling while also adapting to climate change.

The strategy is also a key part of the Naturally Cooler Indigo Project, a two-year project funded by Emergency Management Victoria (EMV) which aims to upscale Council's street and park tree planting to increase natural shade in our towns.

The strategy will:

• Include strategic actions to promote the growth, protection, and equitable distribution of trees in our towns.
• Provide direction to help us create greener, healthier, and more sustainable townships through the planting of trees resilient to climate change.
• Help guide the tree replacement program for ageing trees across the Shire, not only to maintain the canopy cover, but also to stage tree replacements strategically over a period of time to maintain and protect the character of towns with historically significant treescapes, such as Beechworth and Yackandandah
• Focus on our eight main townships:
  • Barnawartha
  • Beechworth
  • Chiltern
  • Kiewa/Tangambalanga
  • Rutherglen
  • Stanley
  • Wahgunyah
  • Yackandandah

What did we find out and what happens next?

Following the Election Period, the draft Urban Tree Canopy Strategy will be presented to Council at its December 2024 meeting. Should it be endorsed, it will be placed on public exhibition for the community to provide final comment.