Cessnock council gets $249,235 to lift tree canopy under Greening our City grants.

newy.com.au – Cessnock City Council has been awarded $249,235 in state funding to plant trees and understorey vegetation across five suburbs and townships in the Hunter Valley.

The grant is part of close to $10 million under the NSW Government’s Greening our City program, backing 28 projects in 24 councils to plant about 24,000 trees and 47,000 square metres of biodiverse understorey across Greater Sydney, the Hunter, Illawarra-Shoalhaven and the Central Coast.

Cessnock’s project, titled Trees in Towns – Increasing the canopy across Cessnock LGA, is listed as targeting public green spaces to lift canopy cover.

Government material says three-quarters of the plantings will be directed to sites with low canopy, where cover is currently 10-20%, as councils target urban heat.

Research cited in the program documentation says shaded surfaces can be 11-25°C cooler than peak temperatures on unshaded surfaces.

The Greening our City program now includes 10 additional councils in the Hunter-Central Coast and Illawarra-Shoalhaven regions, including Cessnock, alongside the 33 councils eligible in Greater Sydney.

State Member for Cessnock Clayton Barr said “Greening our towns and neighbourhoods in Cessnock LGA is about creating a better future for everyone.” Barr said “Planting trees and vegetation in the places we live plays a vital role in our health and wellbeing.”

Barr said he was “pleased the Greening our City funding has been extended to the Hunter to support communities that will see more homes built in the coming years”.

Planning and Public Spaces Minister Paul Scully said the grants were “delivering 24,000 trees across Greater Sydney, the Illawarra-Shoalhaven, Hunter and the Central Coast” and would create “cooler, more liveable communities”.

Other successful projects outside Greater Sydney include Lake Macquarie City Council ($366,850), Maitland City Council ($402,980) and Newcastle City Council ($400,000), alongside Shellharbour City Council ($96,352), Shoalhaven City Council ($488,000) and Wollongong City Council ($482,658).

The NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure is administering the round, with project details published on its Planning website.