Council is responsible for pruning and caring for Newcastle’s street trees.

Caring for Newcastle’s Street trees

Council is responsible for maintaining the city’s street trees. Typically this maintenance involves pruning young trees to create good form and structure, mulching, weed control at the base of trees, and pruning mature trees to reduce conflicts with buildings and traffic signage.

You should not try to prune street trees yourself.

If you think a street tree needs maintenance you can make a request to Council’s City Greening Services on 4974 6043 or complete a on-line customer request form. Council will assess the tree to determine the need for maintenance and will set a priority of any work required. 

The Newcastle Street Tree Master Plan

The Street Tree Master Plan was adopted by Council on Tuesday 21 February 2012. The plan provides a blueprint for street tree planting for the City of Newcastle.

The overall objective of the plan is to improve the selection and health of street trees in Newcastle.

The plan will provide Council with the information it needs to decide what trees should be planted and where.

Over time, it will provide a tree canopy to the network of streets throughout the city which reflects the distinct character of the various precincts throughout Newcastle

Why are street trees important?

Although street trees are only one component of our city’s urban forest, they are extremely important public infrastructure assets and there are many reasons why we value them.

Healthy well developed street trees create a ‘shadeway’ over our footpaths and help to create the sort of place pedestrians find safe, pleasant and inviting. Drivers also appreciate shaded street-side parking and the softening view of trees lining the road.

Street trees help purify the air and reduce stormwater runoff, and the sounds and sights of birdlife are a wonderful legacy of tree lined streets. Street trees also make retail shopping and dining areas more pleasant as well as influencing property values and marketability. 

For more details on the contribution of street trees please refer to the Newcastle Urban Forest Background Paper (see link at the right of this page).

What is meant by ‘right tree in the right place’?

This means selecting a tree species to fit (at maturity) within the available space and making sure it is suited to local soil and climate conditions. It also means selecting a tree species that is ‘compatible’ with surrounding hard infrastructure, building locations and design. For example, a small, low growing tree will not be selected if the site can support a medium sized tree, and a large or medium sized tree will not be selected for a site with restricted space or other limitations.

What if there is not enough space for a tree in the footpath?

New planting technologies allow us to design a ‘right place’- for example, it is now possible to install specially designed load bearing concrete or plastic cells under pavement and to fill these cells with good quality soil. The tree can then develop a healthy root system without lifting the pavement or damaging utilities.

Porous pavement and other stormwater harvesting technologies are commonly incorporated in the vault design. The stormwater infiltration benefits the tree and the overall site drainage system and pollutants carried in the stormwater are then bioremediated in the soil under the pavement.

Vault planting methods will affect the initial cost of planting but costs will be offset in time by savings from avoided pavement and utility repairs. Trees planted into properly designed vaults will establish quicker, are less costly to maintain and can be expected to have a longer useful life expectancy than trees planted in the traditional one square metre ‘pit’.

Vault style planting will be used mainly in the more prominent, higher density parts of the city.

How will the ‘right’ tree species be selected for my street?

The Street Tree Master Plan provides a selection procedure that begins with a systematic review of all elements of neighbourhood character, street design, infrastructure types and locations, as well as urban forest, biodiversity and green corridor objectives.

Once these matters have been analysed a short-list of species with suitable characteristics is drawn up and residents will then be consulted on progressing to the final selection of preferred species.

What is the planting process?

There are a number of vital steps that must be carried out to ensure the best conditions for tree growth and faster tree establishment. These steps include ground preparation to alleviate compaction of the surrounding soil and allow soil conditioner and water crystals to be thoroughly mixed in to create an ideal substrate for tree planting.

Trees may be planted on the same day as the pit excavation or shortly after.

Who will water and care for the new trees planted in my street?

A City Greening Services team will water and care for all newly planted street trees until they are properly established (two years). After this time periodic maintenance will be scheduled for the life of the tree. You are encouraged to give additional water to your new tree and to remove weeds and trim grass around mulch edges taking care not to damage the trunk. However, pruning, fertilising and pest control are Council’s responsibility.

Once established, your street tree should not normally need additional watering but trees less than five years old will benefit from periodic deep watering in dry times.

May I prune the street tree in front of my house?

Council is responsible for the maintenance of all public trees. The Local Government Act makes it an offence to interfere with a plant in a public place so all pruning must be left to Council.

You can request street tree maintenance by calling City Greening Services on 4974 6043.

Should I top-up the mulch at the base of the street tree?

Mulch is organic material that covers soil to reduce water loss, reduce weeds and improve soil conditions. Properly applied, mulch can provide benefits to our street trees. However, if it any deeper than 100mm or if the wrong material is used, it can cause substantial harm to trees.

Lawn clippings are definitely not suitable as they introduce weeds and form a dense mat that blocks oxygen and moisture moving through the mulch to the roots. Council uses mulch treated to an Australian Standard. To ensure we maintain this level of quality we ask you to not top-up mulch around street trees. 

Can I dig a hole in the nature strip in front of my house and plant a tree of my choice?

Council does not permit residents to plant trees on public land. Electricity, telecommunications, gas, water and sewer pipes are usually all located within and under the footpath/nature strip area and these services are often not as deep as people imagine.

What if people plant trees in the footpath without Council permission?

Council is responsible for public trees no matter who plants them. Council is also responsible for ensuring that the right species are planted in the right place. If a person plants a tree without Council authority and the tree is not an acceptable species, or is inappropriately located, Council may, at its discretion remove the tree and will not provide compensation.

Can I plant flowers or plants at the base of the street tree?

You are welcome to plant low growing perennials for example the native Dianella species or other small low growing plants including flowering annuals at the base of your street tree. However, timber edging should not be used to raise and retain the planting.

To avoid any possibility of damaging public utilities under the footpath you should not dig any deeper than 100mm (about the depth of a small garden trowel). If the plantings become neglected Council may need to reinstate the tree base with standard mulch.

Council removed a street tree from in front of my house, will a replacement be planted?

Council values the contribution of street trees and commits funds annually for new planting to account for all trees removed. The most effective and efficient way to manage the replacement process is to focus planting in one or two areas rather than putting one back where one was removed across many suburbs. This means a number of vacant planting sites need to occur in your street and/or in nearby streets to trigger Councils replacement planting process.

Council currently has a tree replacement program under the banner of Living Streets which involves the planting of 30,000 trees across the Newcastle area over the next 10 years. It is anticipated that this program will provide for replacement trees required as a result of tree removal works.

How can I get involved in tree planting in my street?

If your street is not identified in Council's current tree planting program you could have discussions with your neighbours and others in your street to canvass their views on street enhancement using tree planting. If enough people are interested then you can gather signatures and complete a street tree request form and lodge it with Council for consideration as a whole of street planting. 

Do residents pay for tree planting in their streets?

There is no direct cost to residents. Funds are allotted annually in the Management Plan to the Major Asset Preservation Program for street tree planting.

What’s a street tree worth?

The amenity value of a tree can be expressed in monetary terms using a number of established formulas. The Thyer and the Burnley methods are most commonly used in Australia. Newcastle Council uses the Thyer method. Some of the criteria used in assessing tree amenity value are objective in nature. Using the Thyer method in 2002, Council assessed the amenity value of four mature Morton Bay Figs at the Stockton foreshore to be $309,000.

The University of Adelaide estimated the gross benefits from a typical mature street tree in Adelaide exceeded $171 p.a. ($191 p.a. indexed to 2006).

A 2007 New York study quantified a street trees annual value in saving energy costs (more shade equals less air conditioning) improving air quality, absorbing stormwater run-off and improving allotment appearance. The study found the benefits of a typical London Plane tree were Aus$502 p.a., Callery Pear Aus$251 p.a. and even a three year old sapling tree had value, contributing benefits worth $90.80 p.a. It is clear that the smaller the tree the smaller the benefit.

The 2007 study also showed that a dwelling with a street tree in front is worth 0.88% of the value of the property, more than a dwelling without a street tree.