Wendy Patterson

Trees and Views

Wendy Patterson
City of South Perth, WA

Abstract:

Why did we do the work and what we were trying to achieve

The City of South Perth’s Sustainability Strategy committed to implementing a sustainability assessment framework. A case study was selected as a demonstration project, which involved planting trees on Sir James Mitchell Park, an iconic Western Australian and Swan River foreshore parkland. The Sir James Mitchell Park Foreshore Management Plan (2001) recommended the planting of extra trees to provide amenity. Unsuccessful attempts to plant trees over the last nine years, was due to intense opposition from residents living in the vicinity of the Park, afraid of losing their City views.

What methods we used and what results we obtained

The City employed Integral Sustainability to develop a framework and case study process. Community consultation was a key process and two advisory groups were instrumental in advising the project team. Ten sustainability criteria were extracted from the consultation feedback, which resulted in the development of several landscape
design options. A multi-criteria assessment process was applied to the sustainability criteria and landscape options, to derive a preferred tree landscape scenario. 94 trees were planted in September 2009.

What we concluded from it

Extensive and engaged community consultation is paramount, together with a robust and fair methodology for determining a preferred option. This process provided confidence for the community and decision makers.

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