Maribyrnong residents who’d like to have a tree outside their home will be able to ask council to plant one under its new tree management policy.
The tree management policy and guidelines were endorsed unanimously at Maribyrnong council’s final meeting for 2025 on Tuesday 9 December.
The policy aims to achieve 20 per cent tree canopy coverage in Maribyrnong by 2024 in order to provide more shade, reduce heat and support biodiversity.
Places currently without sufficient tree cover will be prioritised for planting, including public transport infrastructure, walking and cycling routes, public spaces and areas with hard surfaces.
The policy also includes a benchmark of having at least one tree on the nature strip in front of every property, with residents able to request a planting from council.
If the nature strip is deemed suitable, the tree will be planted during the next available planting season.
“I would like to see each house have a tree out the front,” Cr Bernadette Thomas said in speaking support of the policy at last week’s meeting.
Cr Thomas said Maribyrnong had lower tree canopy cover than was ideal and that as an urbanised council area, having trees would be particularly beneficial.
“The hard surfaces keep the heat in and the trees help cool the environment.”
Along with planting more trees, the policy also sets guidelines on the around the maintenance of Maribyrnong’s 50,000 existing trees and their possible removal, stating that tree removal will only be considered as the last available option.
Maribyrnong council also adopted another environmental policy at last week’s meeting, with the Nature Plan 2025-35 endorsed unanimously.
Aimed at guiding land management decisions over the next decade, mayor Mohamed Semra thanked the community for contributing to the plan and recommending changes which had been adopted.
“After the community engagement in August and September this year, we made some adjustments to the Nature Plan and Action Plan, and added two new actions,” Cr Semra said.
“The first new action is to continue the Indigenous planting program, and the second action is to investigate whether current planning controls of Newell’s Paddock Wetlands Reserve are appropriate to ensure the site’s biodiversity,” he said.
