Thank you to everyone who participated in consultation activities over the past two years to help Council develop the Urban Forest Strategy and Implementation Plan.

Our Urban Forest Strategy and Implementation Plan will support us to plan, manage and maintain Banyule’s highly-valued urban forest for the next 10 years. Actions taken today will continue to shape the urban forest in a way that enhances and protects it for future generations.

The Urban Forest Strategy and Implementation Plan were adopted by Council on 9 October 2023.

Amendments made to the Strategy, Implementation Plan and Background Technical Report as a result of your feedback include:

• Added Item S6.10 and S6.11 to the Implementation Plan and Background Technical Report.
• Example of vulnerable species removed from the Strategy and Background Technical Report
• Included a thank you acknowledgement to local residents, organisations and groups who contributed to the development of the Strategy.

Watch the Council meeting or view the Council report and minutes and refer to Item 5.1 in the minutes.

The Banyule community has inherited an urban forest that has been shaped by many influences, including generations of land use, urban development and design and public policy.

Over the past two years we worked with the community to develop a new Urban Forest Strategy. The actions in the new Strategy will continue to shape the urban forest in a way that enhances and protects it for future generations.

The Urban Forest Strategy and Implementation Plan will support us to plan, manage and maintain Banyule’s highly-valued urban forest for the next 10 years. Actions taken today will influence the state of the urban forest, and long-lived trees in particular, at the end of the century.

The Strategy will help to facilitate the expansion of the urban forest, strengthen the benefits that our population of trees and plants provides and respond to the priorities identified during community engagement.

Key targets of the Strategy are:

• 30% canopy cover across all suburbs by 2050 with no loss in suburbs exceeding the target
• 45% canopy cover across the footpath and local road network by 2050 with no loss in suburbs exceeding the target
• 50% Canopy cover across the open space shared path network and surrounding playgrounds by 2050

Major actions of the Strategy are:

• Plant the remaining ~10,000 vacant street tree sites over a 5-10 year period
• Develop a tree management framework that will include clear and transparent processes, procedures, and applications for managing tree risk, processes for removal, reporting and customer engagement
• Giving a tree to residents who request them, supporting the planting of trees on private land and influencing the diversity and climate suitability of trees that are planted.

What you told us

At the beginning of 2023, 94 people completed an online survey and 21 people submitted a long form submission to provide feedback on the draft Urban Forest Strategy.

We also held three community forums in March 2023, which were attended by 54 community members. During these forums we received 111 comments and questions which have been collated and considered during analysis for updating the Strategy.

View the full findings report (updated 10 July 2023).

Overall:

81% of participants told us that they support the draft Urban Forest Strategy and associated actions and measures.

Key themes from the consultation were:

What we did

During Stage 1 engagement we developed the framework vision and principles. The six strategic focus areas highlighted were:

1. Prioritise urban forest improvements in the most vulnerable suburbs and places across Banyule
2. Improve planting to complement trees
3. Manage the urban forest across public and private land for resilience to climate change
4. Take a long-term approach to Urban Forest management
5. Build community partnership with council to protect and enhance the urban forest
6. Integrate the urban forest principles into all parts of Council services

The strategic areas and actions were then shared with the community on Shaping Banyule for feedback from 9 May to 20 May 2022.

During this consultation we:

• provided a background briefing document that summarised data used to assess the current state of the Banyule Urban Forest
• explained the framework of vision and principles for the Strategy that were developed during Stage 1 consultation
• outlined the proposed strategic areas and actions.

We then asked for your feedback on whether the community agreed with the strategic areas and how you wanted us to prioritise the actions within each strategic area.

View the full findings report.

Banyule’s urban forest is resilient. It is thriving and people are aware and value the role of the urban forest for health and wellbeing and in making Banyule a great place to live.

The urban forest is managed as an essential asset for Banyule and decisions about the urban forest are fit for place and purpose and space is provided to support greening and larger tree canopy.

People work with Council and are active in the protection, management and maintenance of the urban forest.

In December 2021, we asked for feedback on the draft Urban Forest Strategy principals; 99 people providing feedback through an online survey.

We also asked you to complete two sentences... Here's what you said.

(Note: the bigger the word the more times it appeared in your feedback).

Q1: Urban Forest in Banyule means... the dominant themes were habitat and wildlife, the importance of urban forest for human benefit, indigenous species and all vegetation, not just trees.

Q2: I like having trees around me because... the dominant themes were personal wellbeing followed by providing shade, cooling and supporting fauna.

Your feedback also highlighted the need to reference the natural environment in the principles, therefore we amended the fourth principle and added a fifth principle to reflect this.

The Banyule Urban Forest principles are the beliefs and reasonings that provide focus for this Urban Forest Strategy. The Urban Forest Strategy principles were endorsed at the February 2022 Council meeting:

1. We believe the urban forest is an essential asset for Banyule, shared by all and crucial for the health and wellbeing of the community and natural environment. 
2. We believe a healthy urban forest is the result of strong partnerships between Council and community. 
3. We act today to respond to the changing climate and to leave a positive legacy for the future community, and we act responsibly, using evidence-based practice in our leadership and management of the urban forest. 
4. We plan, design and deliver for the people, places and natural environments of Banyule including: 
   • Climate change and reduction of urban heat island 
   • Liveability, amenity and neighbourhood character 
   • Banyule’s ecosystems and biodiversity 
5. We protect and enhance the Banyule’s natural environment to care for flora and fauna. 

With the framework in place the Strategy moves to the next stage, developing the actions and indicators, with the draft report to be developed in June.

View the full UFS Framework Consultation Findings Report.

Banyule City Council recognises the importance of green landscapes and the contribution they make to building a municipality as a preferred place to live, work and visit. Council is also committed to protecting, enhancing and managing our urban forest into the future.

Community expectations on environmental issues have also changed and a revision of the Urban Forest Strategic Plan (2015) was required to provide further direction on private and public land. The actions we put in place now will benefit our future environment and community.

In 2021, a street tree audit was conducted and registered approximately 70,000 existing street trees, their condition, life expectancy, and height. Preliminary analysis of the data indicates that there is potential to plant around 13,500 trees in road reserves across Banyule.

The Urban Forest Strategy allows us to plan, manage and maintain one of Banyule’s highest valued assets - its urban forest - for the next 10 years. It will help facilitate the expansion of the urban forest and strengthen the benefits that our population of trees and plants provides.

The Strategy will also guide our Tree Planting Program, Street Tree Renewal Program and overall tree management in Banyule. It will also allow for further analysis to address future outcomes and actions.