To celebrate Arbor Day and help boost tree canopy coverage, Tauranga City Council is holding its inaugural Free Tree Day.
This initiative offers residents the opportunity to receive one free native tree per household to plant on their property.
The aim of Free Tree Day is to enhance tree canopy coverage across Tauranga, support local biodiversity, and provide a fun, whānau friendly outdoor activity.
Currently, Tauranga has only 22 per cent tree canopy cover, with Council aiming to increase this to 30 per cent or more.
"We’re eager to engage with our community about the many benefits trees bring to our neighbourhoods, such as providing shade during hot summer days and shelter for native birdlife," says Tauranga City Council principal urban forester, Mark Armistead.
"We want to not only enhance our environment but also cultivate a deeper sense of responsibility towards our natural surroundings."
Residents can choose from a variety of native tree species including Pōhutukawa, Tōtara, and Kōwhai.
Trees will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, with a total of 1900 trees available.
The trees are ready to plant and can easily fit in a car, so trailers won’t be needed.
Council staff from the Sustainability, Arborist, and Environment teams will be present at Bay Park to provide educational materials, guidance on tree care and information on other Council-led environmental initiatives.
Attendees can enjoy a coffee cart and sausage sizzle on-site. This event is exclusively for Tauranga residents.
Council staff will record the intended planting locations to ensure all suburbs benefit from this initiative.
Free Tree Day, Bay Park, 81 Truman Lane, on Sunday, June 9, from 9am – 1pm.
2 comments
Hmmm
Posted on 01-06-2024 11:10 | By Let's get real
How totally irresponsible.
These giant weeds are a bane with a few benefits. How often do we hear of these weeds causing immense damage and destruction in urban areas, particularly when they have been left to grow in areas where they become a nuisance.
Following the last storm we were driving around the area and nearly every stormwater drain was blocked by foliage. Not a single council contractor in sight to prevent potential flooding by just clearing the drains.
Sure trees are nice, but everything has a place and enormous, irresponsibly placed trees don't belong anywhere where they have the potential to become a problem for the neighbourhood.
And we have council contractors already blocking drains by blowing the grass clippings onto the road and into the drains. So often is drainage and sewage overlooked, until it ends up on your carpets.
Pin Oaks
Posted on 02-06-2024 15:33 | By nerak
of which there are far too many around Bethlehem, were, according to someone at TCC, "in keeping with the ethos of the neighbourhood". Pardon? Oh, and "they give shade". Ha ha,many of them only shade tarseal. Or houses whose owners resent that shade. But they are a huge nuisance with leaf and acorn shedding across many weeks in Autumn. And guess who pays to clear up the mess? Of course we do, at least once a week (sometimes more) with a sweeper truck, slowly doing the rounds in this suburb. At what cost? And again at what cost to us is the 'reducing' of these giant weeds? It would surely be less burden on the ratepayer to replace them all with Kowhai, which at least attract native birds, which Pin Oaks do not. Puka is also attractive.
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