Walking your dog, hitting the beach or watching kids sports in Dee Why in the coming weeks? Take a moment to enjoy the new look at James Meehan Reserve and soak up the benefits.

More than 40 advanced trees have been planted in the past month including banksia integrifolia, eucalyptus robusta, melaleuca quinquenervia, araucaria heterophylla and ficus rubigonosa.

The new plantings will boost canopy cover and help reduce the impacts from urban heat on public land. Trees act as giant air conditioners, providing shade and cooling on hot days. Streets with trees can be several degrees cooler in summer.

Council regularly plants trees in streets and public spaces in line with the Tree Canopy Plan. This larger-scale planting project targets suburbs with lower-than-average canopy cover, including Dee Why, Brookvale, Warriewood and North Curl Curl. Funding for the project is through the special variation in your rates.
 
Trees do much more than just provide shade. Here are 4 other ways that trees matter:

Health and wellbeing 

Trees help purify the air by removing pollutants and dust. A single tree can remove up to 1.7 kilos of pollutants every year. They provide shade and help dampen traffic noise. Time spent in green spaces is linked to lowering stress, depression and anxiety.

A better environment

Through photosynthesis, trees absorb carbon dioxide and slow global warming. According to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature, just 4 trees can store the equivalent carbon as a petrol car produces in one year! They also provide protection from wind and rain, mitigate traffic noise, cool the air through shade and moisture release and their roots stabilise the earth limit soil erosion.

More liveable neighbourhoods 

People are drawn to greener places. Green streets and neighbourhoods provide privacy, local character and places to play and spend time. 

Habitat and biodiversity

Trees provide food and homes to birds, insects and wildlife. Fun fact: A mature gum tree can be home to many hundreds of different species, helping sustain ecosystems. 
  
Learn more about our tree planting program, preferred local species and the Tree Canopy Plan.