Friday, 16 December 2011
Windmills, streets brimming with greenery, wildlife and plenty of trees are some of the ideas featured in competition entries depicting Melbourne’s future urban forest that are on display on Swanston Street.
Councillor Cathy Oke, Chair of the Future Melbourne (Eco-City) Committee, said Council’s Urban Forest Art and Design Competition had been successful in getting the community thinking about Melbourne’s urban forest.
“We had more than 400 entries in the Urban Forest Competition, and I was really delighted by the range of creative ideas from entrants in all age groups,” Councillor Oke said.
“Banners of the winning and shortlisted entries are featured hanging between the trees on Swanston Street in front of the City Square. They are nicely framed by the natural tree canopies and will be there until January next year.
“We live in a rapidly changing environment and we need to plan carefully to ensure we look after the health of our city and its people over the next 100 years.”
“Last month Council launched its draft Urban Forest Strategy which will make sure we do just that by increasing canopy cover from 22 to 40 per cent in the city, replacing our dying trees and diversifying our tree stock to no more than five per cent of one tree species.
As part of the city’s Christmas celebrations, the City Square has been turned into a mini urban forest featuring living hoop pines and synthetic green turf throughout the Square as well as many smaller trees and box hedges, all beautifully landscaped.
“It is a real urban forest experience in the City Square this December, and I encourage everyone to get down there to have a look at what the future holds,” Councillor Oke said.
Competition winners:
- Open category - Tomislav Mikulic, Mentone
- Secondary School category - Tony Luo, West Melbourne
- Primary School category - Lucas Gauci, Altona Meadows
- Five years old and under category - Taylah Magee, Brighton East
For more information and to provide feedback on the Urban Forest Strategy, visit http://melbourneurbanforest.com.au.