Question
As part of the Council’s commitment to planting 250,000 new trees, has Wokingham Borough Council considered applying for Tree Cities of the World status and cementing the roll of tree planting and maintenance in the Council’s annual activities?
Minutes:
Question
As part of the Council’s commitment to planting 250,000 new trees, has Wokingham Borough Council considered applying for Tree Cities of the World status and cementing the roll of tree planting and maintenance in the Council’s annual activities?
Answer
Wokingham Borough Council is very keen to attain Tree Cities of the World status. In order for the Borough to achieve this status we must demonstrate that various standards have been met in relation to the protection, maintenance and planting of our trees.
The first step towards achieving this recognition in Wokingham is underway through the proposals to plant an additional 250,000 trees within the Borough. As part of these proposals to deliver this number of new trees and maintain our existing tree stock, we propose to develop a Wokingham Tree Strategy. This would set out how Wokingham could maximise the wide range of benefits that trees and woods can deliver in relation to health, amenity, climate change and water management. It will also explain how the Council could protect and maintain Council owned trees and how we will engage with asset holders in the Council, other landowners, and the community to protect all of the trees across the Borough. An action plan will be produced along with the Strategy, part of which will cover how we will work towards achieving the standards required for Tree Cities of the World status.
We intend to begin work on the Strategy as soon as the proposals are finalised and once worked up to a stage suitable for public consultation we would very much value feedback and input from residents, including plans to achieve Tree Cities of the World status.
You may also like to know that I have submitted a motion to the next full Council meeting which if voted on and agreed by Council would commit WBC to achieving Tree Cities of the World status in the near future. Anybody interested in the Tree Cities of the World programme should visit: www.treecitiesoftheworld.org for some more information. It really is a fantastic programme that we want to be a part of.
Supplementary Question
It is great that we are committing to Tree Cities of the World status. What plans does Wokingham Borough Council have to deliver urban forestry rather than simply planting trees on existing open green land?
Supplementary Answer
That is a really great question because planting on existing green land is clearly one of the easiest options but actually urban trees and urban forests provide some of the greatest benefits of tree planting. They provide shade, they provide reduced wind speed, they reduce our peak temperatures, they improve our air quality, they lower pollution, they absorb carbon, they reduce noise, they reduce the risk of flooding and they also look quite nice.
So as part of our 250,000 plan to plant more trees there is a commitment for us that we want to plant more urban trees. We are calling it the “Garden Forest” project and a proportion of our 250,000 trees are being set aside for residents to effectively plant in their own gardens. So in the near future I am looking forward to announcing plans on how we are going to deliver that to our residents.