Page 4359 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 25 October 2017

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(iii) reporting to the Assembly on commencement of these reviews and progress on developing the Living Infrastructure Plan;

(b) within two years of this motion being passed:

(i) commence delivery of actions to increase Canberra’s tree canopy cover overall, focussing on suburbs where tree canopy cover is low;

(ii) completing the joint reviews of the Territory Plan and TCCS infrastructure design standards;

(iii) completing the review of the Tree Protection Act;

(iv) delivering a framework for assessment of tree canopy cover and condition, which allows monitoring of cover against the targets and improved management of the ACT Government’s trees; and

(v) reporting to the Assembly on the delivery of these activities; and

(i) completing implementation of the findings of the Territory Plan review;

(ii) completing implementation of the TCCS infrastructure design standards review; and

(iii) reporting to the Assembly on the delivery of these activities by the last sitting day in July 2020.

Canberra’s urban areas have over 750,000 ACT government managed trees, and on top of this there are of course many hundreds of thousands of trees in people’s front and back yards. These trees make a big difference to quality of life, and they are highly valued by the Canberra community for the many benefits they bring. Members will have noticed that spring has arrived—even if it went backwards for a little while—and temperatures have started to rise with it. Within the next few months or, I suspect, less than that, we may be in the heat of summer and instead of enjoying 25 degree days, we will be trying to stay cool on 35 degree days. How bearable the heat is and how much your cooling costs will depend substantially on the trees on your block, your neighbours’ blocks and the street out the front of your house.

There is a well-known problem with living in cities called the urban heat island effect. Many of the built surfaces in cities—roads, roofs, footpaths and so on—trap heat during the day and gradually release it in the late afternoon and evening. They also reflect heat around, including into our homes. Summer peak temperatures in our cities can be many degrees higher than in nearby non-urban areas. This is a problem that will only get worse as climate change continues.

Trees, on the other hand, ameliorate urban temperatures in summer. The bigger and denser the canopy, the more they reduce the heat island effect. To quote from the ACT climate change adaptation strategy’s section on the urban heat island effect:

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