Maitland City Council rejects tree and park greening plan over $591m cost
Maitland City Council rejected a $591 million urban greening plan on Tuesday.
City councillors rejected an urban greening proposal after cost estimates revealed the scale required. Councillor Don Ferris pushed the 3-30-300 principle, which means three trees visible from every home, 30 per cent canopy cover, and a park within 300 metres.
Ferris saw it as climate preparation for hotter summers. Councillor Sally Halliday estimated buying land alone for enough parks would cost about $22 million.
This was before planting a single tree. Councillor Mitchell Griffin suggested the full cost could reach $591 million once retrofitting established suburbs was included.
Griffin dismissed it as "planning by calculator" that would eat up "two to three budgets" of council. Councillor Bill Hackney noted that 19 of Maitland's suburbs already register zero heat risk on council's own mapping.
He questioned whether a blanket approach was right. Only four councillors supported the motion.
- $591 million
- Estimated total cost
- $22 million
- Land acquisition cost
- 19
- Suburbs with zero heat risk
- 4 councillors
- Votes in favour
Why it mattersCouncils struggling with climate adaptation need to choose between ambition and budget reality. This vote signals cost is winning over urban greening targets.
AustraliaMaitland residents will not see this greening standard adopted. Other councils watching the vote may shelve similar plans, keeping many Australian suburbs hotter and less green as temperatures rise.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 7 d ago
