City of Burnside Urban Tree Strategy 2014 – 2025

The objective of this Strategy is to re-define tree-management practices, create plans and actions that will maintain and improve the quality of our urban forest for the future. Council policies and practices need to meet community expectations in line with available resources. Council recognises its responsibility to maintain an asset that is dynamic and subject to increasing environmental change in both built and natural environments. Management systems and practices must be flexible enough to adapt to these changes without being vague and inconsistent. This Strategy embraces the opportunity to generate a new legacy for the City of Burnside and create a forest for future generations. This document sets out how our urban forest will become diverse, robust and resilient in the face of current and future challenges. We know that climate change and increasing density and growth within our city will place new pressures on our urban forest, but the targets we have set in this document will meet those challenges. The City of Burnside has adopted a scientifically-based formula for calculating the amenity value of our public trees (Amenity Tree Valuation formula). The formula is based on factors including tree condition, species type and growth rate, aesthetics value and locality values. It is intended over the coming years to fully integrate this formula into Council’s operational systems and practices to assist with ongoing asset management review, appropriate resource allocation and to assist Council and its community in placing a reflective value on our Urban Forest.