Tuesday 9 February 2010

Cairns Regional Council to spend $22,000 on four trees

The Cairns Regional Council will spend $22,000 on "an experiment" by planting four trees according to a Silva Cell tree root management system.

The plan is to nurture shady street trees that will allow large trees to thrive side by side with maximum car park spaces, under a trial as part of a future plan for cool parking in the city heart.

The four trees under the trial are on Hartley St, between Grafton and Lake, and will commence next week.

"The tree root management system is an underground cellular structure designed to carry traffic loads while providing uncompacted area for tree roots to grow," Council's manager of Infrastructure Management, Stephen Tyter says.

“The purpose of installing the system will be to allow large trees to grow providing large trees that offer shade in the Cairns CBD without reducing available parking,” Tyter said.

Tyter says that normally root systems of large trees require the same space as two or more parking bays, but with the installation of this system, large trees will be able to thrive as the root system is protected from compaction and surrounding infrastructure will be saved from tree root invasion.”

The Silva Cell system consists of underground modular framework with structural standards that allow it to support loads of up to 20 tonnes.

“The system provides the tree with access to a suitable volume of uncompacted soil which is critical in growing large functional trees in urban settings and will add perhaps twenty years to an average tree’s longevity,” Stephen Tyter says.

Council says that planning for large shady trees in the centre of a city is designed to reduce heat in the urban environment which can lead to reduction in air conditioning subsequently saving energy costs.

What an amazing revelation. Why don't they start by digging up the concrete in City Place and pop in a few of these trees?

13 comments:

Tim said...

It was a treemendous story and I hope the experiment doesn’t get rooted, or that they are barking up the wrong….OK I’ll stop there.

Birds who believe in higher perches said...

Tim leave us alone. I know about your mob. I've twigged.It really goes against my grain. You've got branches everywhere. We're gunna cut you down mate!

brad m said...

What a great idea!

Susan the Gold Beema said...

crazy mad buggers right up there with the 60K on the annual report that no one will ever read expoect for councillor blake who is such a brany box and is the biggest intelectual in the council

nocturnal congress said...

Well worth the experiment! Incidentally we did have shady trees in City Place once, but they were all cut down by the Byrne Council.

The Essence of Good Taste said...

Happy to invest in a way to increase the numbers of big trees in town. This system is more about street trees than mall trees. I can't wait to see the centre parking in town nicely shaded - and that bitumen frying pan outside the Lagoon. Maybe Stockland, Raintrees, TAFE, JCU, etc can use this system too so we can park under the trees instead of spending even more on fake shade. May also help at Endeavour park where the shade trees can't be too close to the playing fields and so there is nothing in the middle of the grounds for the central fields

Alison Alloway said...

Hear, hear. The central business district did have lots of shady trees once, but age, storms etc took their toll. Let's hope this experiment is successful and a major tree planting program follows!

Factman said...

This trial has nothing to do with filling the CBD with trees.
It's all about trialling root containment thus allowing for more car parking spaces.

The trial will determine ...

Will the roots stay within their new contained/constrained enviroment?

Will the trees have a sufficient root system to remain structurally stable?

Will the contained/constrained root system provide sufficient nuitrient feed for healthy growth?

That's what this trial is all about.

And that's a fact.

Sue E said...

Darn, Factman, you are such a spoil sport but then, SIGH....... what else can one expect from Council employees

Fatman said...

I agree with Yoda...Factman is a dry wank.
And that's a fat.

dutchie said...

If it's about root containment, Cr Blake will not be involved, that's for sure

bob meadows said...

ho ho, hi ho, its off to council we go
lots of interesting things to discuss about one particular councilor. Should really get interesting

concerned said...

What is Bob Meadows referring to??