It is no secret that Alpine Shire is renowned for its tree-lined avenues. Our street trees are integral to the identity and tourism of our region.

A high proportion of our street trees are already, or near-reaching, maturity. Trees are living assets that require strategic management and replacement to ensure neighbourhood character is preserved, while meeting public safety and sustainability objectives.

The significance of our street trees is not currently identified or protected in the Alpine Planning Scheme. The Alpine Planning Scheme Review 2023 identified a need to prepare guidelines for the planting, retention, and replacement of canopy trees, and to prepare a strategy to increase the amount of canopy trees across Alpine Shire.

The Draft Street Tree Master Plan will include all street trees managed as individual or group assets in Alpine Shire.

Street trees are trees located near footpaths, nature strips, and public land that generally falls beside Council-managed road reserves.

Trees located within state forests, national parks, plantations, and private property are excluded from the scope of this project. Trees in public realm open space, including recreation reserves, are currently excluded. However, trees in these open spaces may be considered as the project progresses.

Have another idea? Let us know via our survey or at one of our pop-ups!

Put simply, canopy cover is the percentage of ground area shaded by trees. This means, if you have 20% canopy coverage in an area, that 20% is directly shaded by a tree canopy, with the remaining 80% being unshaded.

Adequate canopy coverage brings many benefits to urban areas, including:

• Increased shade, reducing the impact of urban heat island effect (it can feel 5 - 14 degrees cooler in the shade!)
• Local air quality improvements
• Supporting biodiversity
• Improved stormwater management
• Increased wellbeing and social benefit
• Traffic calming

Current best practice targets for urban canopy cover sit between 30% and 40%. Targets for private property are currently stipulated in the Alpine Planning Scheme. This work looks to fill the gap to provide a municipal-wide approach to canopy coverage.

Estimated canopy cover targets for our townships are:

• Bright: 30%
• Porepunkah: 18%
• Myrtleford: 13%
• Mount Beauty-Tawonga South: 18%
• Wandiligong: 32%
• Harrietville: 34%
• Tawonga: 15%
• Dederang: 8%

A visual mapping tool is available below to understand what canopy cover extent looks like across our urban areas.

Online

• Complete the survey here on this page by scrolling down
• Pin your favourite significant street trees, as well as where you’d like us to plant more, on the digital map

In-person

• Complete the survey in person at one of our libraries in Bright, Mount Beauty, or Myrtleford
• Come and see us in person at our market pop-ups!