Penrith City Council has taken the next step in its Cooling the City strategy with the region’s Bushcare team, by partnering with businesses to plant 10,000 native trees, shrubs, grasses and wildflowers.
Council and Greening Australia hosted a planting day at Millen Street in Kingswood in June, where 30 Amazon volunteers from its new Western Sydney fulfilment centre planted 600 native species grown by Council’s nursery.
The remaining 9,500 plants will be planted by Greening Australia at Kurrajong Road in North St Marys later in 2022.
The planting is a continuation of Council’s conservation initiatives and events that have seen residents and Council staff plant over 5,000 trees and plants as part of the Bushland planting program over the last 12 months.
Penrith City Council Mayor Tricia Hitchen said, “I’d like to thank the volunteers from Amazon Australia and Greening Australia’s staff for joining our Bushcare team for a great day.
“It was great to see everyone come together and share experiences and advice on how to best conserve our local environment and the benefits of planting native species for our wildlife, such as providing them with food, protection and habitat for native.”
Mayor Hitchen praised the planting partnership and the opportunities Council has undertaken to educate the community, including local businesses.
“As part of Council’s Cooling the City Strategy, we have identified that planting trees and plants, such as the ones that we have installed at Millen Street, is a great way to not only increase habitat for our wildlife, but also cool the community with additional shade,” Mayor Hitchen said.
Penrith Council’s Bushcare team hosts a variety of tree planting and weed removal events throughout the year as part of its Bushcare program’s conservation efforts.
Featured image:(Left to right) Penrith Mayor Tricia Hitchen, Greening Australia’s Nicola Masters, and Amazon Australia leader of Amazon’s new fulfilment centre Sid Yadwad. Image: Amazon Australia.
